Thomson Bridge, a leading provider of advisory and training services to the national Electricity Supply Industry (ESI), has entered into a partnership with Wagga Wagga based Ironbark Training, an RTO dedicated to civil and construction skills development. This Partnership is focused on providing targeted skills development to new and experienced workers who are participating in the rapidly changing energy sector.

Thomson Bridge Managing Director, Lisa Parkinson says “Our industry is undergoing a once in a generation transformation as the Australian energy market transitions to a broader generation technology mix of thermal, renewables, battery storage and distributed energy generation.”

The scale of these projects is unprecedented for Australia’s energy system and can greatly contribute to job creation in regional locations. As case in point is the recently announced 900km transmission link, known as EnergyConnect, which is being developed by NSW’s TransGrid and South Australia’s ElectraNet. The giant new project will create up to 1,500 construction jobs.

However, skills shortages are often encountered due to competing demands for labour across energy transformation projects and other large infrastructure projects. Covid-19 travel restrictions and closing of international and frequently, state borders, has amplified the challenges of securing skilled workers as and when they are required. 

The Ironbark - Thomson Bridge collaboration seeks to overcome skills shortages, and actively provide pathways for new and experienced workers. Our approach is to provide entry level training, as well as courses for compliance and upskilling. Courses include nationally recognised qualifications and units from the Civil and Energy Industry Training Packages and will be developed in consultation with the energy network owners, contractors and electricity authorities.

Thomson Bridge and Ironbark have both successfully adopted collaborative models of working with government and industry to meet current and future skills demands. Both have well established relationships with government, peek industry bodies and electricity network service providers. Thomson Bridge delivers electrical skills and safe access training to workforces already contributing to the development and maintenance of the transmission networks across NSW and South Australia. 

Ironbark Training was founded by Managing Director and Wagga Wagga local, Dave Joyce, who identified shortfalls and needs required to be met within the infrastructure and resources industries. This includes providing a responsive and flexible approach to Civil training that is directly beneficial for employers and has fast become a premier provider of these training requirements. 

Ironbark’s Managing Director, Dave Joyce comments “Whilst skill development is a major objective, we are equally focused on educating workforces on how to assess hazards, determine and evaluate risks and implement safety protections to operate safely, for themselves, and their work parties when working on often remote locations.”

Lisa Parkinson, said “our team at Thomson Bridge sees this as a great opportunity to work with likeminded and innovative training businesses. Ironbark Training is an Indigenous owned business, and Dave Joyce, as its founder, is a proud Kamilaroi man, who is passionate about creating employment opportunities to contribute to economic sustainability for communities in regional and remote locations.

We are looking forward to the opportunities that this partnership will provide to the civil construction and ESI industries.”

Dave Joyce, said “this collaboration with Thomson Bridge will provide our team the ability to have a much larger impact on regional and remote communities, a combined force to combat skill shortages and further contribute to industry growth and job opportunities.”

Thomson Bridge is a trusted partner to the ESI sector, providing a full suite of electrical advisory and training services for the Industry, and in late 2020 invested in the establishment of the Thomson Bridge ESI Academy. The Academy focuses on the development of new training programs and innovative learning tools to meet the evolving needs of workforce competency in this increasingly complex and dynamic energy industry.

“Both companies are highly experienced in working in regional, rural, and remote areas and actively seek out the best staff to represent their business” said Dave Joyce.

This collaboration to deliver timely, targeted training will abridge numerous resourcing tasks for companies participating in these major infrastructure project including pre-employment programs, upskilling, meeting project cultural targets, and providing an on-going compliance management service and systems to the ESI and Civil Construction and Resources industries.