Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has today announced a significant funding injection for the Motivation Foundation.
The Motivation Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation which provides scholarships and training to young people from diverse backgrounds, to assist with education and gain employment skills.
The partnership will see Motivation Foundation provided with $300,000 in sponsorship funding from Main Roads over the next three years.
The $300,000 will go to the Motivation Civil and Mining Academy - the Foundation's cornerstone project - providing training towards careers in civil construction, resources, and infrastructure for disadvantaged youth.
Successful students who join the two-year program (Certificate II in Civil Construction and in Resource and Infrastructure Work Preparation) undertake a combination of nationally recognised training and workplace operations experience, one or two days per week.
The program will create a pipeline of skilled youth to enter traineeships in infrastructure, construction and resource employment - improving industry capability, and the capacity to deliver on important infrastructure programs for the Government.
Last year, 175 young people were engaged by the Motivation Foundation across metropolitan and regional WA - of which 28 per cent are Indigenous, and 22 per cent are young women.
Alongside the Main Roads sponsorship, the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage have also approved temporary access for the Motivation Civil and Mining Academy to utilise land reserved for the future construction of Henley Brook Avenue for training purposes.
More than 90 per cent of Motivation Foundation graduates have been employed within six months of graduating.
As stated by Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:
"I visited the Foundation earlier this year, and was really impressed with their programs working with young people - to provide opportunities and traineeships in the civil construction industry.
"What's brilliant about Motivation Foundation is its success rate, with around 90 per cent of graduates going on to be employed within six months of graduating from the program.
"The State Government's $300,000 sponsorship will ensure Motivation Foundation continues to provide opportunities to young people, and that we grow the number of locally-trained skilled workers - who can go on to work on critical infrastructure projects in Western Australia."
