[+] Need for Speed Drives Fast-Track Training Hub

Thirty-five years ago Nelson Mandela told a standing-room-only audience in a gymnasium at a Boston, Massachusetts, high school that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. If Mandela—newly released from a South African prison at the time—was correct then the NSW Department of Education, Skills and Employment has just taken a big step towards solving the critical shortage of skilled construction labour. The Institute of Applied Technology—Construction, an $80-million state-of-the-art facility in Kingswood about 45km west of Sydney’s centre, has been specifically designed to fast-track workers straight into the construction industry. The 7500sq m institute, or IAT, is a partnership between the vocational education and training provider TAFE (NSW), construction company CPB Contractors, and Western Sydney University. And when it opened for business this year—just 4km from Penrith and 2km from the university’s Warrington campus—it immediately began training an additional 800 apprentices a week. The first of its kind training hub is catering for traditional industry skills from hands-on construction of full-scale buildings to project simulation rooms with virtual reality training for carpentry, plumbing, and electrotechnology. Critically, however, the hub’s focus is not just on what is needed now, but what will be needed in the future. Speed is the key, according to the institute’s director of operations Helen Fremlin. ▲ A critical shortage of skilled labour remains the biggest concern facing the construction industry in 2024. “Industry identified a need and we needed to respond to it more quickly than the machinations of the current system allowed,” Fremlin says. “Traditionally, if a change was identified in the sector it would have to go through about 18 months’ worth of changing the training package—because the training packages are national—and only then would we deploy those changes into the sector. “Now, the Institute of Applied Technology is looking to rapidly deploy training through a new model of education that meets emerging industry needs.” Fremlin says they are tackling areas such as digital skills and construction, contract administration and project management, looking at areas such as BIM (building information modelling) and other skills that trades need to help them bridge that gap. “It’s built specifically to respond rapidly,” she says. The building was designed by national architecture studio Gray Puksand, which has had more than 20 years planning and designing educational facilities. The Kingswood campus is the second Gray Puksand has put together for TAFE in NSW. The Institute of Applied Technology Digital and Multi-trades hub at TAFE’s Meadowbank campus was finished in 2022, at a cost of about $154 million. Gray Puksand partners Barry Hackett and Stephen Turner were behind both. ▲ Lead designer Barry Hackett and the institute’s Helen Fremlin. Constant consultation with stakeholders was key in the building’s design. “With Kingswood we were able to build upon the information we’d already garnered from TAFE leaders in Meadowbank and that made the process a little easier,” Hackett tells The Urban Developer . “They understood the information we needed and we understood them as clients a lot better as well.” Hackett says the main challenge was allowing for adaptability and flexibility within the architecture of the building. “We’ve been very careful that the interior of that building—no matter what it’s been used for today—can be quickly and readily adapted and reused for another purpose in the future,” he says. “We don’t know where trades are going to be over the next 5, 10, 15 or 20-plus years so there had to be that adaptability and flexibility with the workshop and teaching spaces to make sure the building doesn ’ t become outdated or unable to cater for future uses. “And that includes both soft skills in the theory space and also practical skills through workshop spaces.” Kingswood and Meadowbank were early steps by the NSW Government following a 2020 review into Vocational Education and Training (VET) by Professor Peter Shergold and businessman David Gonski. The pair were commissioned to identify opportunities to ensure the state “remains nationally and internationally competitive”, and that VET was regarded as a “genuine and desirable option for school leavers”. ▲ The new Meadowbank campus ( pictured ) and the Kingswood facility follow the Shergold-Gonski review of vocational education and training. A critical shortage of skilled labour remains the biggest concern facing the construction industry in 2024, according to a nationwide survey by the building and construction industry platform BCI Central. In fact, according to Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn the industry needs just under half a million new workers to join the sector to meet demand over the next three to five years. That not only includes about 300,000 additional skilled workers but also 200,000 to replenish the ranks of those retiring or expected to leave the industry during that period. Just last week ADCO Constructions managing director Neil Harding said the industry continued to be affected by changing dynamics such as labour and skills shortages, materials and supply shortages and increasing regulatory requirements. “A collective effort will be required between government, industry and unions to promote upskilling of workers, innovative construction techniques and streamlining of regulatory requirements so that clients have confidence to move forward and builders can build the capacity to deliver,” Harding says. The Institute of Applied Technology’s Fremlin says their foundation partners are helping to provide that collective effort. “The institute’s model draws from regular industry input to inform what ’ s changing and where the educational need is going to be,” she says. ▲ The Kingswood building opened for business this year. “Having that connection with industry, having industry come in regularly to have their events in the building, meet in the building and work from the building allows us that connection. “That means students are benefiting from regular industry input.” Fremlin says that until now, what she refers to as a “massive need for workers” has been hampered by two things—classroom capacity and teachers. The new Kingswood facility has allowed 800 new places for apprentices to learn. Another TAFE initiative—a 14-week paid-to-learn program—was introduced last year. It draws in workers from the construction industry and fast-tracks them through assessment and certification as teachers. More than 60 new teachers have been trained in the program this year, Fremlin says. For as Nelson Mandela told his fellow prisoners on Robben Island: “Each one, teach one.” Many within the island prison were poorly education. And education, he said, provided answers. You are currently experiencing The Urban Developer Plus (TUD+), our premium membership for property professionals. Click here to learn more.

[+] Need for Speed Drives Fast-Track Training Hub

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