Lendlease empowers workers through skills program

12 Oct 2017

"One great story is Lawrence, who grew up on the North Coast. After some intermittent labouring jobs Lawrence was referred to a Koori Job Ready Construction course at TAFE. Upon graduation Lawrence was offered an Indigenous apprenticeship with Bovis Constructions (now Lendlease)."

ROB DECK

Lendlease’s Managing Director Barangaroo South

Lendlease is currently in the process of rolling out its 2016-2018 Elevate RAP, called Building Respect: Past, Present, Future.

Lendlease is developing a range of exciting projects across Australia, but when it comes to showcasing its efforts towards reconciliation, one example stands as the most extraordinary: Barangaroo.

Along the waterfront in Sydney’s CBD, Lendlease’s Barangaroo precinct is one of the most significant developments to take shape in the harbour city.

Named after a powerful Cammeraygal woman, the site holds major historical and cultural significance to First Australians. Part of the territory of the Gadigal people, the traditional owners of the Sydney city region, Barangaroo was a fertile fishing and hunting spot. Large shell middens and numerous rock engravings nearby date human occupation to at least 6,000 years.

In 2013 Lendlease teamed up with TAFE NSW to launch the Barangaroo Skills Exchange (BSX), a program that has directly employed around 212 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, including apprentices, to help bring the precinct to life.

Lendlease’s Managing Director Barangaroo South, Rob Deck, says the initiative has changed the lives of these First Australian workers.

“One great story is Lawrence, who grew up on the North Coast.

“After some intermittent labouring jobs Lawrence was referred to a Koori Job Ready Construction course at TAFE. Upon graduation Lawrence was offered an Indigenous apprenticeship with Bovis Constructions (now Lendlease),” he continues.

“Since starting at Barangaroo, Lawrence has completed his carpentry apprenticeship. He has also completed Certificate 3 in Dogging and the Barangaroo Safety Leaders Program and has completed a Diploma in Management.

“Lawrence was promoted to leading hand, running his own crew building the black water treatment plant, one of the cutting-edge sustainability features of Barangaroo.,” he says.

Lawrence has enormous pride in the educational achievements he has made, as well as his family and his Indigenous heritage.

This approach extends to all Lendlease’s projects across the country, however as Barangaroo holds such rich cultural and historical significance to Australia’s First People, it’s a success story that illuminates the power that RAPs can have on the community.