Local jobs for local people. In this case Bourke

For many years there has been a noticeable lack of suitably qualified security officers in the Bourke community. Suddenly, there’s 14 suitably qualified security officers ready to fill existing positions. It took more than waving a wand to bring it about, however.

The long-term problem has always been the absence of a local security training provider approved by the NSW Police to deliver the licensing course. To gain a Security Licence Class 1A or 1C, a person must successfully complete a Cert II in Security Operations with a NSW Police-approved RTO. An obvious employment opportunity was going begging because of a lack of training.

A co-ordinated effort to improve matters followed. The Orange office and head office of Training Services NSW sorted out the funding. ACFIPS (a NSW ITAB) consulted with ACES (an RTO approved by the NSW Police with a Smart & Skilled contract) about how the training could be delivered in Bourke. The local council and employers did all they could to help and encourage.

The end result was that ACES sent one of their most experienced trainers to Bourke for four weeks to run the course. 14 hopeful students were recruited and completed the course. Employers now have qualified staff to fill job vacancies.

It’s a great example of what collaboration and co-operations can achieve. The biggest congratulations, of course, must go to the graduates themselves. Many of whom had to travel large distances and make sacrifices to complete what was a rigorous and demanding course.

Definitely planning to run another security training course next year.

Back row: Mick McDowell, Peter Johnson, Jayson Heatherill, Warwick Clarke, Pat Canty, Ray Bennett, Bill Lawrence, Michael Boney, Alex Armstrong. Front row: Anthony Heinemeyer, Aiden Orcher, Noel Canty, Matt Whitbread, Paul Whitbread. Thank you to the Western Herald Bourke for the pic.