Media release – Master Builders Tasmania, 11 December 2023
Construction training fund spends $800k per year on stakeholder engagement while cutting funding to key training courses
The release of the Keystone’s annual report shows the organisation has lost sight of its purpose, according to Master Builders Tasmania CEO, Matthew Pollock.
“Keystone’s one and only priority should be to fund construction workers training so that Tasmania can have a strong, skilled workforce that can build Tasmania’s future,” he said.
“Keystone is entirely funded by the building and construction industry, through a levy applied to projects valued at $250,000 or more. It is just common sense that industry funding specifically set aside for industry training should actually be spent on industry training.
“Unfortunately, the annual report shows that just 54 cents in every dollar raised by the industry levy goes to training reimbursements. This is not good enough when tradies and builders are in such short supply.
“In a record year for levy collections, the annual report showed the fund recorded a loss of over $1.6 million. The rapid growth in overhead expenses is concerning and unsustainable.
“Because of these budget blowouts, Keystone has chosen to cut funding by thousands of dollars to key courses at the worst possible time.
“Because of these funding cuts, Master Builders has been forced to cut the delivery of training courses to the north west. There is now nowhere for people who want to do their training to become a licensed builder to do face-to-face training in the north west of the state.
“This means fewer opportunities for young Tasmanians growing up in the north west to start a career in the construction industry. It is not only inequitable, it is a risk to the ability of industry to upskill and meet the future construction needs of the north west communities.
“Keystone must commit to meeting Minister Ellis’s recommendation to lift the allocation of funding for training reimbursements to 70 per cent of all levy income immediately. We cannot have another year where training funding is squandered.
“Less funding to support workers in their training means fewer job opportunities for Tasmanians to work in the construction industry.
“If you want to see what investing in developing Tasmania’s building workforce looks like, just look at the amazing training facility under construction in Cambridge. Master Builders Tasmania and the Government have co-invested in this training hub that by this time next year will be providing real, hands-on training for hundreds of existing employees and budding builders each week.
“Importantly, we’re encouraging existing workers to do more training to make sure they have the skills needed to build Tasmania’s future.
“We need to grow our workforce to keep up with demand and to build the game-changing projects like the AFL stadium and that means we need to make sure that as much of the training levy as possible is directed to the training that we so critically need.”
Comment supplied to Tasmanian Times – Martin Blake, CEO Keystone, 12 December 2023
The background is that Keystone has a new Chair and new CEO and MBT press release was timed to coincide with public meeting in Devonport, including MBT members, which was extremely constructive. In relation to your query, comments on MBT media release as follows:
Keystone Tasmania was established in 1990 to serve the building and construction industry by administering the Building and Construction Industry Training Fund.
In 2023-24, the value of building and construction industry training funded by Keystone totalled $5.6 million, which was the highest since the Fund was established and equated to 86% of levy revenue for the year.
The building and construction industry is a broad church, and it is immediately apparent as an incoming CEO that there are a range of different views on funding priorities and training delivery models within the industry.
Ultimately, Keystone is here to ensure the sustainability of the Fund and serve the industry. It is our responsibility to ensure that Keystone’s business strategy and training plan has the broad support of industry, of which Master Builders Tasmania are an extremely important part. I have always found Master Builders to be a progressive and constructive peak body to work with in the past and I am looking forward to working with them and the rest of the industry to get the funding balance right.
