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Council & Business

6 October, 2022

Pilot project to launch in coming weeks

Central Goldfields Shire councillors have noted an update on the Welcome to Central Goldfields project with migrants just weeks away from relocating to Maryborough. At last week’s ordinary council meeting, councillors moved to note the update on...

By Riley Upton

Pilot project to launch in coming weeks - feature photo

Central Goldfields Shire councillors have noted an update on the Welcome to Central Goldfields project with migrants just weeks away from relocating to Maryborough.

At last week’s ordinary council meeting, councillors moved to note the update on the project, which outlined the outcomes for the project, intention of the community reference group and council’s involvement.

Welcome to Central Goldfields is a 12-month pilot project, led by local businesses and community leaders and aims to attract skilled migrants to the Central Goldfields Shire, address staff shortages and promote a younger, more culturally diverse community over time.

The community reference group leading the project comprises 14 local residents representing organisations including Asteria Services, the Maryborough Education Centre, Havilah, Maryborough District Health Service, True Foods, council, Sonac, Rotary and others.

Speaking during the meeting, councillor Liesbeth Long said the pilot project would work to address workforce issues while also diversifying the community.

“This project addresses the increasingly complex issues with attracting and retaining staff in our shire, particularly for skilled roles by relocating migrants to the shire and matching them with vacant jobs that are not being filled by local people and I stress that point,” she said.

“Key businesses and community members have formed a community reference group and they have developed a statement of intention which outlines the partnership approach to delivery of the project.

“The project will be delivered across three phases, with phase one already completed during July and August.

“A power of work has gone into making this project a reality and I’d like to commend council officers and staff as well as the community reference group for their commitment and dedication to address staff shortages and promote a younger, inclusive and more culturally diverse community in future years.”

The arrival of skilled migrants is expected to take place this month and also speaking during the meeting, councillor Grace La Vella said she was confident the project would achieve positive results.

“This project is headed locally by extremely high level and extremely credentialled leaders in our community and supported by an internal council working group,” she said.

“My confidence of us giving this our best shot has soared considerably.

“Encouraging our shire to attract culturally diverse community members entices a rich and positive dynamic to our community, which again fosters a unique quality in our shire.”

The project is in part the result of a recent council survey which revealed two thirds of local businesses found recruiting staff either difficult or very difficult.

According to the survey, they also said attracting qualified professionals, from allied health staff to accountants and skilled tradespeople, were particularly hard to recruit.

Maryborough Education Centre principal and Welcome to Central Goldfields Com-munity Reference Group member David Sutton said looking externally for staff is not a new concept for the shire and that the project is an opportunity to create long-term change.

“This pilot project is an opportunity to work together on an ambitious but exciting project to create a long-term plan to ensure the needs of the shire’s current and future workforce are met,” he said.

“Recruiting staff from beyond the border of the shire is not a new concept and a number of businesses in the shire already have culturally and linguistically diverse workforces, but this project is a chance to make sure we’re getting that process right.”

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