WHEN HAIRDRESSING CHANGES LIVES BRISBANE RTO FILLS INDUSTRY GAP BY OFFERING DISADVANTAGED TEENS AN EXCITING CAREER PATH
At a time when the hair industry is almost at crisis point concerning declining apprenticeship completion rates, Brisbane registered training organisation MIG Training is thinking outside the square and filling salon job vacancies with a surprising new breed of hairdressing candidates. MIG Training has just graduated its third intake of newly skilled Salon Assistants in partnership with the YMCA and Skilling Queenslanders for Work (SQW) program, which provides skills development, training and job opportunities to unemployed, disengaged or disadvantaged Queenslanders through a suite of targeted skills and training programs and is proudly funded by the Queensland Government. The students complete a Certificate II in Salon Assistant, which gives them work-ready qualifications to go straight onto the floor in a hair salon and for many, commence a hairdressing apprenticeship. The most recent intake was highly successful, with so far five of the seven graduates gaining employment. The program completed in the first half of 2019 84
Hair Biz Year 13 Issue 6
resulted in six of the nine graduates getting opportunities in some of Brisbane’s leading salons. “These students come from a position of disadvantage, so to achieve those outcomes is exceptional,” tells MIG Training managing director Anthony Gray. The partnership between MIG and the YMCA began five years ago, when it received a grant to develop a trade training centre including a hairdressing training facility. MIG worked with the YMCA to help design the facility, which then led to the development and delivery of a pilot Certificate II in Salon Assistant program. This has grown over five years to include hairdressing and retail programs across four campus locations. When asked why he believes the program has
been so successful in the hairdressing arena, Anthony says it’s both the connection MIG Training has to the salon community, plus the willingness of that community to give these graduates an opportunity. “In addition, ensuring the skills match those that are important to employers and providing strong pastoral care while the students train and make the connection to employment are key to such positive outcomes.” Hannah Nixon, acting team leader for YMCA’s SQW program says: “People in the local community have a real opportunity to enter the hairdressing industry with this stepping-stone