Telco Construction Association

Telco Construction Association Meeting:

26th July at NECA Centre of Excellence

Minutes

Attendees:

Oliver Judd, Tom Emeleus, Kent Johns, Greg Thornton, Salem Allaf, Neil Watt, Johno Murphy, Steve Colley, Jamie Smith, Peter Wesley, Mohammad Al-Otaibi, Aimen Gouda, Anthony Farquhar, Anthony Cooper, John Vines, Josh Maxwell, Julian Coyne, Ken Fleischner, Mark Southby, Matt Smith, Brad Wallace

Agenda:

Introduction and welcome: Peter Wesley

NECA Introduction – Services and Capabilities: Oliver Judd, Tom Emeleus, Kent Johns

NBN Update: Greg Thornton

Case Study of WHSE Compliance Collaboration: Matt Smith

General Discussion:

The discussion from the open floor centered around skill shortages and WHSE compliance burdens. It was noted that NBN have approached government to ensure telco skills are high on the list of critical skill shortages for immigration purposes. The minister has mentioned Australia is looking for 1 million people for immigration over the next 12 months. Most people are suffering from a shortage of staff. There were some constructive ideas around attracting and retaining people such as, presenting career paths for incoming workers and starting with apprenticeships for the 2023 intake with NECA Group Training.

There was discussion around the current duplication of effort for managing workers' competencies and inductions. Matt Smith presented a case study from the energy/resources sector whereby six large mining and oil & gas companies have collaborated to set a common competency framework for the industry. Making our industry easier to work in not only saves money but also helps attract and retain workers.

The consensus was that there is a need to work together to help overcome some of the many challenges we all face. The next steps are now to refine the agenda whilst we gather the tribe.

We still need more people involved and to ensure we are not trying to boil the ocean.

Over the next few weeks, we will seek input to help refine the agenda and start floating some initiatives we could possibly tackle initially.

Next Meeting:?Wednesday 24th August 4pm at NECA 122 Hume Highway Chullora and Zoom.