Alcoa Australia connects apprentices with skills and opportunity

Shown are the 2021 Alcoa Apprenticeship Program graduates from Australia

Alcoa's Purpose to "Turn Raw Potential into Real Progress" was showcased following four years of hard work and determination that culminated in trade qualifications for 24 graduates from the Alcoa Apprenticeship Program in Australia. With diverse skills in trades including fabrication, mechanical fitting, electrical instrumentation and heavy-diesel mechanics across Alcoa’s two bauxite mines and three alumina refineries in the Kwinana, Peel and South West regions of Western Australia, a select few were chosen for Safety and Apprentice of the Year awards.

2021 Apprentices of the Year:
Huntly mine: Phoebe McSpadden (Heavy Duty Mechanic)
Willowdale mine: Riley Jenkinson (Heavy Duty Mechanic)
Kwinana refinery: Jackson Bleach (Mechanical)
Pinjarra refinery (joint): Courtney Beckman (Electrical) and Thomas Knowles (Fabrication)
Wagerup refinery: Lani Payne (Electrical)

2021 Safety Awards:
Huntly mine: Tyler Dance (Electrical)
Kwinana refinery: Sinead Commerford (Electrical)
Pinjarra refinery: Rachael Hazelden (Mechanical)
Wagerup refinery: Jordan Southwell (Mechanical)

Shown from left are 2021 Apprentice of the Year, Phoebe McSpadden (Heavy Duty Mechanic, Huntly Mine); 2021 Safety Award Recipient Tyler Dance (electrical, Huntly Mine) and Trever Stockil, Huntly Mine Manager.

Heavy duty mechanic graduate and Huntly mine Apprentice of the Year Phoebe McSpadden said she was grateful to Alcoa for choosing the group and described the experience as an opportunity of a lifetime.

“Alcoa has provided a safe workplace for us to grow and learn as both humans and tradespeople,” Phoebe said. “We leave with not only a trade certificate but mates, skills, pride, self-assurance and enthusiasm for what is to come. Our crews welcomed us in and have been constant sources of help for the last four years. The confidence, work ethic, skill set and values we have learnt from these tradespeople have given us the best possible starting point for what will hopefully be long and successful careers.”

Alcoa Vice President Operations - Australia Michael Gollschewski commended the graduating apprentices as they embark on the beginning of their careers as qualified tradespeople.

“We choose very capable young adults - sometimes straight out of school - and give them a great working and learning environment where they can realize their potential,” Michael Gollschewski said. “For an apprentice to be awarded the Apprentice of the Year, they will have excelled in detailed logbook entries, training completion and have a strong safety record."

With more than 2000 apprentices, trainees and graduates trained and developed in Australia since 1963, Alcoa has a proud history of training generations of skilled tradespeople.

“I am encouraged to see how these graduates have matured and grown as people to find their way in the workplace, and it is rewarding to be part of a business that has provided them with this chance - one they have grabbed with both hands,” Gollschewski added.

Alcoa currently has 109 apprentices employed in Western Australia. Following applications from a pool of 1190 people, another 25 apprentices will begin in January 2022. The 2022 class includes 12 females and four Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Congratulations to the the apprenticeship graduates!

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