Creating a Sustainable Workforce

Our Regional Engineering Associate (EA) Traineeship Program is a new addition to our development employee programs and supports regional employment, in particular improving employment outcomes for regional youth and Aboriginal peoples. Trainees are recruited from and live in their local region.

The aim of the EA traineeships is to create a long-term talent pipeline for regional technical roles in critical functions identified through our workforce planning framework.

Following successful completion of a two-year traineeship students will receive a Diploma of Civil and Structural Engineering. Student learning will be mostly on the job with a strong focus on hands-on experience in all aspects of the EA role, which includes:

• direct experience on small projects including road widening or passing lane construction, road maintenance projects including reseal or pavement repair, or larger projects including new road construction
• experience drafting pavement and surfacing designs that contribute to improvements to the regional road network and improve road safety
• asset management planning activities for road and bridge work programs
• activities involving assessment of road condition and field and laboratory testing on materials, soils and pavement.

Formal block training is delivered by North Metropolitan TAFE and all students travel to the East Perth campus twice a year to undertake these modules. At completion of the qualification, trainees will be appointed to permanent roles within the regions as an EA.

A summary of the first Regional Engineering Associate Trainee cohort is outlined below:

We have five overarching Development Employee Programs to meet the needs of the business, covering a range of career entry pathways into civil and electrical disciplines via university, TAFE or traineeships. The addition of 25 regional EA trainees to these programs brings our total to 100 development employees in 2021. To find out more information visit our website.