'The Construction Diaries - Building Foundations for the Future' project is an on-line web diary that will follow the progress of an Indigenous pre-employment training program in construction.
The aim of the diary is to raise awareness of the issues, both positive and negative surrounding training Indigenous Australians from regional and remote areas for careers in the construction industry.
The diary will consist of:
• participant profiles outlining their background, and reasons why they are interested in pursuing training / a career in the construction industry
• weekly entries following the progress of participants
• interviews with participants, trainers and guest speakers at various points throughout the program
• photos and video footage
In addition to promoting the program, various tension points will be tracked on-line as they occur. Strategies used by stakeholders to try to overcome difficulties will be analysed as well as any lessons learnt.
The project is funded by the Construction & Property Services Industry Skills Council (CPSISC) as part of their 'productivity diversity strategy.'
The Registered Training Organisation responsible for delivering the program is Industries Services Training (IST). IST is one of the largest private providers of training in the Northern Territory, and a major provider of construction related training in regional and remote areas.
Training commenced on the 31st of August in the remote area township of Ngukurr in the Northern Territory.
Ngukurr is located on the northern bank of the Roper River, some 310 kilometres by road from Katherine, the nearest regional centre. There is limited mobile phone coverage out to Ngukurr, and satellite phones are a necessity when travelling. In comparison to many other remote Indigenous communities in the NT, the Ngukurr community is considered to be quite large with a population of 1200 people.
Ngukurr’s remoteness is increased by poor road access and is cut off entirely during the wet season which stretches from November / December through to April / May.
16 people have expressed an interest in the program.
Participants who are enrolled in the program will be studying block laying, welding and general construction at Certificate II level.
