The long-term unemployed, refugees and more women are finding new careers in construction, as part of the 10,000 jobs the North East Link Program is creating for locals and priority job seekers.
A new partnership will help people facing disadvantage get jobs on the North East Link Program.
Thirty disadvantaged job seekers have already been recruited this year to help build the North East Link Tunnels, with more than 900 roles set to be dedicated to people living with disability, industry-transitioning workers, survivors of domestic violence and people from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.
New people are coming on board every week as work gets underway to prepare for major construction of the North East Link Tunnels. Engineers, environmental specialists and traffic controllers are among the 2000 people already on the job building North East Link, with more than 6 million hours worked so far on the massive program.
Thousands more Victorians will join them working on the North East Link Tunnels, including Javid Bahonar who migrated to Australia from Afghanistan in 2021. After struggling to find work, Javid secured a job with North East Link after being referred through the Brotherhood of St. Laurence partnership.
The partnership with the Brotherhood of St. Laurence and major tunnelling contractor the Spark Consortium is just one of a range of initiatives that are connecting people with jobs and training opportunities on the North East Link Program.
After opening in July 2021, the dedicated North East Link Skills and Jobs Centre, established in partnership with Apprenticeships Victoria, has provided industry specific advice to more than 300 people. It has also referred more than 150 people for training to help them get job-ready as construction on North East Link ramps up.
The project has also committed to have 2.5% of work hours completed by Aboriginal people and 10% of work hours delivered by apprentices, trainees and cadets.
For information about North East Link jobs, visit our jobs webpage or visit the North East Link Skills and Jobs Centre at 17 Watsonia Road, Watsonia.