A new website has been launched by the Australian Brick & Blocklaying Training Foundation (ABBTF) to help people who want to become bricklayers and pursue a career path in the construction industry. The website has a host of valuable information to help school leavers starting out, mature age bricklayers wanting to become qualified or those looking to make a career change.
According to Geoff Noble, the ABBTF’s CEO, the website has been redesigned to be user-friendly for visitors to the site. He also stated that brick and block laying career is becoming more popular as young people and their parents realise that a qualified bricklayer has the skills to build a career in the general construction industry.
It can mean starting user’s own bricklaying business or becoming a builder, site manager and aspire to even higher positions in the industry. The new website of the ABBTF explains what is required to become a bricklayer as well as providing details on Registered Training Organisations (RTO’s) that conduct apprenticeship training courses. It also gives details of how to become involved in the Step Out Programme for school students in years 10 to 12.
The Step Out Programme is run through schools where students can get a good idea of bricklaying by building special projects for their school. ABBTF have had students go on to take up an apprenticeship. Teachers can contact the ABBTF to organise a Step Out Programme.
ABBTF incentives available for employers to take on bricklaying apprentices are also explained on the website. Employers can obtain an ABBTF subsidy of $6,000 over the term of the apprenticeship and this is topped up by a Federal Government grant of $4,000 making the total subsidy $10,000.
There are also additional subsidies available in some states. The newly designed website shows the various career paths qualified bricklayers can follow within the construction industry as well as opportunities available to bricklayers emigrating from overseas.
Users can read about great success stories with ABBTF programmes, in the Latest News section, and how bricklaying apprentices are winning awards as well as succeeding with their career aspirations. Employers will find the ABBTF’s website a handy resource for finding bricklaying apprentices as well as details of training courses and employer incentives which are making such a great difference in combating the shortage of bricklayers. The ABBTF would also like to hear about success stories from employers and bricklaying apprentices to add to the growing list of achievements.
