Local councils investing in the First Start training program are confident they can surpass the success rates of almost 80 percent that the program has already achieved.
LGAQ chief executive Greg Hallam said an independent review of the First Start program several years ago revealed a rate of successful outcomes of 79 percent in participating councils.
He said a similar outcome or better was likely to be achieved with more recent rounds under the program, par of the Palaszczuk Government’s Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative.
He was speaking yesterday at a First Start launch at Logan City Council with Training and Skills Minister Yvette D’Ath.
Ms D’Ath said 900 places had now been funded with local councils through the initiative’s First Start program since it was reinstated.
Mr Hallam said councils has always displayed a strong commitment to investing in training, including guiding and supporting trainees and apprentices during their formative years in the workforce.
“Even when the turn of the economic cycle makes it difficult for employers to invest in training, councils as large local employers do stand up and are prepared to invest in the young and in some cases not so young local workforce,’’ he said.
He said councils recognised the long term benefits of investing in training and apprenticeships as a means of not only ensuring their own labour needs but ensuring there is a reliable source of skilled workers in the general community.