The largest of its kind in northern Victoria, the event, held at the Wodonga TAFE campus in Shepparton, helped connect regional students and citizens to education and employment opportunities, and allowed businesses and trades to showcase what they had to offer.
More than 2200 people registered to attend, including 27 schools and 80 exhibitors, covering health, education, the arts, local government, hospitality, agriculture, construction, beauty and sports.
Business owners will be hoping the event helps retain some of the talent locally and fill some of the long-term vacancies.
International experience for apprentices
It is a time-honoured rite of passage for many Australians to take off overseas for a year or two of adventures before returning and settling down, but that can be difficult for those who take up apprenticeships.
A new four-week exchange program might be about to give some the chance to experience the best of both worlds though.
Australian second-, third- and fourth-year apprentices over the age of 18 are being offered the chance to broaden their trade knowledge, skills and experience in Canada, New Zealand or Switzerland through the Global Apprenticeship Network Australia with support from GAN New Zealand, EJTC Canada and GTEXpro.
The program says it will cover travel, accommodation, insurance and training costs to an estimated value of $10,000.
For more information, visit https://gan-australia.org/international-apprentice-exchange-program/
Regional ‘roundtable’
The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has held a “roundtable” in Shepparton to provide members from the Goulburn Valley with a regional update and to listen to the issues facing businesses in Greater Shepparton.
The event was held on Thursday, May 11 and the Victorian Chamber’s manager of campaigns and advocacy of commerce, Sarah Rillo, said familiar themes were prominent among discussions.
“Workforce shortages is the biggest one, unsurprisingly, but a really interesting point today was taking a holistic view of the issues in regional Victoria. So, for example, housing is a big issue, but workers are also an issue, so you can’t have more workers if you can’t house them,” she said.
“The Federal Government actually has put in sort of a build-to-rent project where they’re going to help fund big buildings that are available for rent, which is actually a really good initiative, but we still, we’re just not seeing enough.”
Stephen Schneider, of the Greater Shepparton Business Network, said improved connections between businesses could only help deal with the issues that were impacting on the region.
“Very much about connectivity, how we can ensure that regional centres such as Greater Shepparton, our voices are heard, our concerns are heard, our needs for better connectivity, for looking at how we can retain workforce or how we can encourage new people, the need for having housing and all the other resources that go along with that, and the Victorian Chamber are a great lobbyist on our behalf, with a strong voice to state government,” Mr Schneider said.
