Page 8 - Climate Control News November 2021

News
Tenders open to bench test RAC equipment
TENDERS HAVE OPENED to bench test re- frigeration and air conditioning equipment for the federal government.
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is seeking quotes by 10 No- vember, 2021.
The approach to market is for the bench testing of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment to capture the increased energy used when operating with preventable com- mon faults.
A range of equipment will be tested to show electricity use in new or ‘as new’ condition and then further tested with a handful of common faults introduced to the equipment.
The testing will help inform users of the ben- efits of regular equipment maintenance to re- duce electricity costs and the environmental benefits of reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
There are no mandatory conditions for par- ticipation and the contract would commence 22 November 2021 and end on 30 June 2022.
Interested parties should put forward a submission by 2pm on 10 November 2021 at h t t p s : // w w w . t e n d e r s . g o v . a u /
A wide range of equipment will be tested.
Apprentice program expansion creates skilled pipeline
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT has expanded the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements program.
The $3.9 billion program will extend support into the second and third year of an eligible ap- prenticeship administered through the $716 mil- lion Completing Apprenticeship Commence- ments program.
Under the new changes from October 2021, eligible employers will receive a 10 per cent wage subsidy in the second year of an eligible appren- ticeship, and five per cent in the third year.
The investment is expected to continue to support the 270,000 anticipated commence-
L-R: Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Robert. CFMEU national construction secretary, Dave Noonan.
ments under the Boosting Apprenticeship Com- mencements program from October 2020 to March 2022.
Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Robert, said the program expansion will help maintain a pipeline of skilled workers right across the economy with 348,200 Australians training as at June 2021, 30 per cent more than the previous 12 months.
“The Morrison Government has supported a generation of Australian apprentices in the face of the biggest shock to our economy since World War Two,” Robert said.
‘While other countries shed their apprentice workforces, our highly successful Boosting Ap- prenticeship Commencement program saw new apprenticeships increase 141.5 per cent year on year.”
Robert said securing the skilled workforce of tomorrow through the Completing Apprentice- ship Commencements program is in addition to a record $6.4 billion investment in skills this fi- nancial year, including a $500 million expansion of the JobTrainer Fund, which recently hit more than 230,000 course enrolments.
CALL TO BAN APPRENTICE RATIOS
The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has demanded the federal government scrap rules that ban apprentice ratios on government jobs while also calling for increased investment in local skills training.
The call has come in the wake of projected workforce supply issues recently identified by Infrastructure Australia.
CFMEU national construction secretary, Dave Noonan, said the Australian Building Code bans apprentice ratios on government
jobs including almost all infrastructure projects.
“Apprentice ratio provisions should be an important part of developing a future skilled construction workforce, yet the Code bans them from inclusion in EBAs if the employer bids for government work," he said.
“If engineers are part of the identified need for skilled workers, they must be trained to Australian standards and registered so buildings and structures are safe in their construction and over their lifetime of use.”
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