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A child sitting a table taking a photo on her iPad, with other children sitting at the same table colouring in with textas.

For more than 10 years, our Works Program has helped job seekers, businesses and the community in Renewal SA’s project areas by providing:

  • local people with training and employment opportunities
  • contractors with an affordable way to train skilled workers who have then gone on to be employed by and of value to their businesses
  • Registered Training Organisations with students for their programs in civil construction, horticulture, community care, hospitality and more
  • improvements to benefit the local community through programs that have upgraded public amenities.

In the 2018-19 financial year the program broadened its focus by building capacity and supporting social inclusion through new engagement activities, identifying opportunities to work with social enterprises and Indigenous contractors, while also delivering training, work experience and employment programs in a new industry – demolition.

Social enterprises and Indigenous contractors

Numerous successful work experience and employment outcomes were delivered through the inclusion of economic development clauses in contracts with social enterprise employer yourtown and Indigenous owned and operated Zippy Indigenous Facilities Services (ZIFS).

Securing ZIFS to provide professional cleaning services at Bowden and Playford Alive has resulted not only in sparkling clean project offices – thanks to ZIFS’s valued employees Leanne and Valerie – but the important inclusion of Indigenous contractors in the supply chain.

Yourtown won the contract to contract to paint the exterior of Renewal SA’s Bowden project office and later in 2019, a ground maintenance contract at Lot Fourteen. Bowden contract participant George Flomo’s efforts and work ethic were so outstanding he has undertaken further paid employment as a general labourer with Melisi Projects at Tonsley.

The Works Program also partnered with social enterprise Youth Inc to bring flowerbar, a retail pop-up business to the Adelaide Railway Station. Youth Inc's student participants gained a wealth of experience, in not only floristry but also business management, retail and marketing.

A woman wearing an orange high-vis vest and holding a cloth and spray-and-wipe bottle, leaning against a window featuring a model of Bowden apartments inside.

Leanne is one of two ZIFS contractors who have gained employment at Renewal SA projects in Adelaide, thanks to Renewal SA’s Works Program.

Volunteering and social inclusion opportunities

Several Renewal SA-led activations held over 2018-19 provided opportunities for volunteers seeking experience in event management.

Port Adelaide’s 2018 Winterfest allowed us to offer 31 participants of a mix of ages, genders and cultural backgrounds experience in customer service, presentation and pack up/down while undertaking a number of hospitality and event support tasks. The Quality Training and Hospitality College and TAFE SA hospitality students who completed the volunteer program received vital feedback in the form of a performance appraisal with a Certificate of Appreciation that documented their hours of work experience gained and contributes to achievement of their qualification.

Tonsley's inaugural Open Day also offered the opportunity for a number of volunteers to learn the ins and outs of delivering a large scale event. These volunteers were invaluable in contributing to the enormous success of the open day, providing support by greeting visitors and helping with directions, gathering talent releases, recording attendance and supervising use of equipment.

Volunteers were again engaged on a Tonsley tour held for the Children's University, at which Roma Mitchell High School students provided support and positive role modelling for the 26 Coorara Primary School students who visited Tonsley to learn how small ideas can have big impact and take part in activities that encourage creativity and innovation.

In June 2019, the Works Program sponsored another 34 Children’s University students to tour and take part in activities at Lot Fourteen with the aim of inspiring a sense of excitement about the future of jobs and what’s happening on site. After touring a portion of the site and learning about Lot Fourteen’s role in building a local space industry, they participated in a colouring activity in which they were thrilled to transform their 2D pictures into 3D animations using an augmented reality (AR) app on iPads.

Of the tour, Training and Employment Initiatives Manager, Samantha Wilson said: “It was obvious how excited they were about coming to Lot Fourteen which is exactly the ambition of the neighbourhood: it’s a place to inspire all South Australians.”

A group of five adults wearing button-down shirts and black pants standing indoors in a v-formation and each holding up a chair.

Winterfest 2018 allowed us to offer 31 participants of a mix of ages, genders and cultural backgrounds experience that contributed to completion of a Certificate III hospitality and tourism qualification.

Training, work experience and employment

The pre-employment programs delivered by the Works Program may have slowed a little this year, but in their place were nine traineeships, which contributed to the state government’s target of creating 20,800 apprenticeships and traineeships over the next four years.

Eight of these traineeships were generated as a result of the SA-first demolition pre-employment program the Works Program delivered in partnership with local, family-owned and managed business McMahon Services. Thirteen young people participated in the four-week training program, performing work experience on demolition sites (including Lot Fourteen and the WEST development at the former Football Park) and achieving nationally accredited units from the Certificate III in Demolition. Following graduation, eight of the participants were selected to continue employment with McMahon Services while completing a Certificate III in Demolition traineeship, which they are set to complete next year.

Numbers at the birthplace of Works Program, Playford Alive, where the program began in 2008, have always been impressive, and 2018-19 was no exception, with a third Lighthouse Disability program and seventh successful Stepping Stone (SA) Childcare & Early Education Centres pre-employment program resulting in 29 accredited training places, 26 training program work experience placements, 24 paid employment outcomes and $145,195 in funding secured with program partners.

The Square at Woodville West childcare pre-employment program also produced strong results last year, with a huge 83 per cent of early 2018 childcare pre-employment participants finding paid jobs within months of graduating. One such graduate was so successful that she began full-time work in the industry three months before completing the program!

A woman laying on the floor with two toddlers next to her on each side, reading a book together inside.

Funding secured with partners

In addition to these achievements and results, a whopping $647, 838 in funding dollars was secured for stakeholders in 2018-19, enabling them to partner on social inclusion, training and employment initiatives with Renewal SA’s Works Program.

More information on the Works Program

Use the buttons below to register your interest in participating in future Works Program opportunities or learn more about the Works Program.

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