CA talented group of local apprentices, trainees and employers will be vying for gongs at the Australian Training Awards in Sydney next week, including several who use the services of Business SA’s Apprenticeship Support Australia program. Walls Bros Designer Kitchens’ Arthur Walls has also been nominated for the coveted Australian Lifetime Achievement Award.

Arthur has been in the cabinet-making industry for more than 60 years. The 80-year-old cabinet maker began his career as an apprentice and has been training apprentices for his family-owned business, Walls Bros Designer Kitchens, for more than 50 years.

Based at Holden Hill, Walls Bros employs more than 90 people and is one of the biggest employers of cabinet-making apprentices in South Australia.

Walls Bros is supported by ASA from signing trainees to checking in during their apprenticeship to ensure they are meeting all requirements.

Arthur loves to see apprentices succeed in a trade he is passionate about and is thrilled to be recognised for his longevity in the industry with an Australian Lifetime Achievement Award nomination at the Australian Training Awards, to be held in Sydney next Thursday.

Commencing in 1994, the Australian Training Awards are the peak, national awards for the vocational education and training sector, recognising individuals, businesses and registered training organisations for their contribution to skilling Australia.

This year’s South Australian finalists are:

• PEER, a group-training organisation and the SA Training Awards Training Provider of the Year winner
• Wickham Flower, the SA Training Awards Medium Employer of the Year winner
• Kirsty Potter, employed by Programmed Skilled Workforce and SA Training Awards Trainee of the Year Award winner
• Jarrod Morton from PEER in the Australian Apprentice of the Year category
• Shanna-Lee Locker in the Australian School-based Apprentice of the Year Award category
• Lachlan Stone in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year Award category
• Sarah Twyford in the Vocational Student of the Year Award category
• Darren Quinn in the VET Teacher/Trainer of the Year Award category
• Lidia Lipkiewicz and Kathryn Von Bergen in the Excellence in Language, Literacy and Numeracy Practice Award category
• Edward John Eyre High School in the School Pathways to VET Award category

ASA, powered by Business SA, wishes all South Australian finalists the best of luck at the Australian Training Awards in Sydney on Thursday 15 November.