Business bulletin: 21 April 2022

The first 30 Territorians to graduate from an innovative cabin crew training program will now enter the aviation industry and help ease critical workforce shortages.

The Cabin Crew Preparation Course is designed to prepare students for each stage of the cabin crew process with regional airlines, including Alliance Airlines and Airnorth.

During the 4 week course students gained First Aid and Responsible Service of Alcohol qualifications, required for all Australian cabin crew roles. Students were given hands on training in handling emergencies such as evacuation, fires and first aid along with security and customer service.

The course has been delivered with support from the Territory Government pre-employment training program. The pre-employment training program supports projects that help Territorians find jobs in occupations experiencing skill shortages or those that are hard to fill.

The aviation industry has been one of the hardest hit by COVID-19 however, our regional airlines are experiencing exponential growth with the easing of restrictions and borders reopening, and need cabin crew to service their fleet.

Aviation Australia Business Manager Northern Territory, Chris Pigott said “Aviation Australia was proud to be the chosen trusted provider for this exciting new cabin crew program for the NT. Training Territorians locally at the newly established Territory Aviation Skills Centre provides local jobs that before had the training conducted in other states of Australia.”

Thirty Darwin-based students successfully graduated from the first and second intake of the course. They will now go on to undertake cabin crew recruitment with local airlines.

For more information about the pre-employment training program visit here.

The Northern Territory tourism industry is using an innovative program to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic by recruiting overseas workers to fill workforce gaps.

Award-winning holiday accommodation giant Voyages has brought in 77 workers from the Pacific, mainly Fiji, to staff its suite of hotels and restaurants at Uluru.

The company plans to bring in a further 98 workers in May.

Voyages chief executive Matthew Cameron-Smith says: “Our focus remains on creating employment and career opportunities for Australia’s First Nations people.

“However, Australia’s unemployment rate is incredibly low – and while that’s great for the economy, it means in the short term we need to look outside of Australia to meet our staffing requirements.”

The overseas workers are employed in a range of roles, including chefs, front of house, hospitality and housekeeping.

They are working throughout Ayers Rock Resort, including Sails in the Desert, Desert Gardens, Emu Walk, Outback Pioneer, The Lost Camel, and many food and beverage outlets.

The workers have been recruited under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme, which allows eligible Australian companies to employ overseas workers for up to nine months in short-term roles and for 1 to 4 years for longer-term roles.

The PALM scheme allows eligible Australian businesses to hire workers from nine Pacific countries and East Timor when they cannot fill the jobs locally.

Territory companies taking advantage of the scheme are also benefiting from a range of Territory and Federal government initiatives to ease the labour shortage, which is particularly severe in the tourism industry.

Mr Cameron-Smith says it took about 7 weeks from being accepted into the scheme to having “boots on the ground.”

Last month, 25 Territory companies showcased their products and services to investors in the United Kingdom (UK) as part of the inaugural trade series, Spotlight on the Northern Territory.

In 2020, the UK was Australia’s fifth-largest trading partners for goods worth $21.9 billion.

The 3 part virtual trade series provided a unique opportunity for the Territory to strategically target the UK market and harness new business and trade partnerships.

The Territory’s critical minerals, resource sector and energy sector which includes renewables, hydrogen and carbon capture use and storage were highlighted during the series.

Both sectors were identified as having significant synergies with existing or emerging trade and investment opportunities in the United Kingdom.

The Territory is well positioned to attract investment in solar and hydrogen developments due to our large areas of land with high solar irradiance, established world-scale gas resources and existing infrastructure and supply chains.

The Territory also has a world-class mining export industry including value add processing and several major mines. There are key opportunities in attracting investment to spur the development of local processing and manufacturing.

UK registered businesses can register to request access to the recordings, slides and contact details for the speakers from our NT virtual trade mission.

For further information about trade and investment opportunities in the Territory visit Invest in the Territory website.

Last week, the Northern Territory Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with global tech company NEC Australia and NEC Corporation.

The signing will strengthen NEC and Government’s partnership to develop a sustainable innovation ecosystem and grow the Territory’s digital capabilities. It also follows significant private sector investment in subsea fibre optic cable and data centre infrastructure.

President and CEO, NEC Corporation, Takayuki Morita said “The Territory is emerging as a forward thinking, technology focused region and we are honoured to be working closely with them to build a successful future.”

As part of the MoU, the parties will set out a framework and identify major areas for digital development in the Territory.

This agreement will also allow NEC to explore the use of its world-leading technologies such as submarine cable systems, Open-RAN 5G and artificial intelligence in the territory, as well as building industry training opportunities for Territorians.

This partnership will help expand local industry, generate new opportunities for businesses and create more jobs for Territorians.

As one the largest employers outside of Government in the Territory, NEC Australia consistently contributes to the local economy while also creating new digital career pathways through various developments and mentoring. The company currently employs 187 full-time staff across the Territory.

Executive Chair and CEO, NEC ANZ, Mike Mrdak said NEC Australia had a long history working in the Northern territory and were excited to build on its success in the Top End with this unique opportunity. “This partnership underpins NEC’s vision to support governments who seek to provide citizen services and create a connected future for their people.”

Growing the digital and tech industries is a key part of the Territory Government’s plan to grow the economy to $40 billion by 2030.

There are business opportunities for all in the Northern Territory, just ask Louise Denton.

She started selling her photographs of the NT’s near-pristine landscapes at the Mindil Beach Sunset Markets in Darwin in 2011 and within 3 years, became a full-time photographer with a busy business.

Now Louise Denton Photography is taking another step forward by using a $7,000 Territory Government grant to introduce a new point-of-sale system and a new job management system.

The initiatives will give Louise more time to develop her business, including opening a new gallery.

“The grant application itself was easy,” she says. “The staff dealing with processing the applications were very helpful and informative. The hardest part was figuring out which grant to apply for.

“The new systems will have a huge impact on how I run the business.

“It's going to become a real workplace where we can all support each other and grow the business together, rather than just me trying to figure everything out alone!

“It feels like a big step, but I'm excited for it.

“I have been running every aspect of the business solo – that's everything from taking the photographs, editing, the entire manufacturing process, from designing my own products to doing my own framing, as well as being the face of the business and operating all retail outlets myself.

“This is becoming too much for just me alone, and I'm slowly beginning to recruit some amazing people to create a new team.”

Louise received funding through the Business Pivot Grant program which has recently been reviewed to make it easier for businesses to understand the initiative and access grant money.

The grant program supports Territory small businesses to improve their digital capabilities such as by incorporating e-commerce or other digital solutions to improve visibility and profitability.

Grants of up to $10,000 are available on a 25/75 contribution.

For more information about the Pivot Grants Program visit nt.gov.au/business-pivot

The 2022-23 International Student Wellbeing Grants are now open.

Local businesses, student groups and community organisations can apply for up to $10,000 in funding for activities and events that promote and improve the wellbeing of international students living in the Territory.

Initiatives funded through this program have helped international students to connect and engage with other students, peers, businesses and Territory locals with the last round providing $100,000 to support 14 activities held January to June 2022.

Successful activities and events from the 2022-23 grant program will take place from July 2022 to June 2023.

For further information email StudyNT@nt.gov.au or phone (08) 8999 7500.

Applications close 9 May 2022.

To apply visit GrantsNT.