Higher apprentice numbers and a growing awareness of industry career opportunities have led to a pioneering program by Visual Connections and the Australian Sign & Graphics Association (ASGA) to expand its apprenticeship efforts.
The program, Australian Schools Industry Partnership (AusSIP), was initiated in 2019 and following its success organisers decided to roll the program out to other Australian states and industry sectors in 2020 with new initiatives to be announced soon.
In 2019, AusSIP’s Tina Mavris and John Watters ran the initiative in a number of NSW schools to give students in Year 10 and Year 11 the opportunity to learn about the industry through visits to Ultimo TAFE and ASGA members.
A number of students also attended PrintEx19 in Sydney in August as part of the program.
Visual Connections CEO Peter Harper said the partnership – which falls under Visual Connections’ Academy initiatives – was piloted for a full year in NSW, with a focus on the sign and display industry, with very positive results.
According to the organisation, sign and display apprenticeships in NSW were up 21.28 per cent in 2019, with ten additional apprentices signing up for TAFE training.
“It’s no secret that attracting young people, training them, and retaining them, is a major challenge across the entire sector,” Harper said.
“Visual Connections is committed to supporting the future sustainability of the industry, and one of our key areas of focus is attracting young people to the industry and ensuring they have access to the training they need to build their careers.
“There is no greater investment that we can make in the future of our industry than in equipping young people to become the leaders of tomorrow. We look forward to expanding this successful program across the country and the industry as we seek to support a sustainable future for the sector.”
ASGA general manager Michael Punch said the program is also about revealing the opportunities inherent in sign and graphics careers.
“So many students, parents and careers advisors are simply unaware of the industry and its variety,” he said.
“They walk daily through shopping malls, festooned with all forms of signage, yet while plumbers, carpenters and electricians are trades they’re very familiar with in their homes and workplaces, it’s a different story with sign makers and installers.”
According to Watters, with many of the young people that they come across, their contact with the program is the first time they’ve ever heard about sign, display and print, let alone considered a career in the sector.
“The ‘hands-on’ nature of this program demonstrates that there really are jobs in the industry which are both available and desirable,” he said.
“Close liaison with TAFEs and other RTOs is also vital to ensure that there are clear training pathways available. With different systems and multiple providers in each state, that’s also a complex process and one which takes time to work through.”
The Sydney pilot also resulted in an increase in the number of registrations in the Sign & Display TAFE course for 2020.
“Particularly pleasing”, according to Harper, is that five of the new apprentices (half the intake) were girls – a result showing a doubling of female apprenticeships in this category in 2019.
“It’s always pleasing to see young women take up opportunities in our industry, and we’re absolutely delighted to see the number of girls starting these apprenticeships growing to near parity with the boys,” Harper said.
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