Above: Kwinana Alumina Refinery’s Domenic Boni and new trainee Eloise Lucas.
Right: Alcoa’s Julio Costa and trainee Amy Price.
Camera IconAbove: Kwinana Alumina Refinery’s Domenic Boni and new trainee Eloise Lucas. Right: Alcoa’s Julio Costa and trainee Amy Price. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Kwinana and Rockingham trainees fired up for Alcoa refinery roles

Vanessa SchmittWeekend Kwinana Courier

KWINANA resident Eloise Lucas and Rockingham’s Amy Price are celebrating after securing two of six highly sought-after nationally-accredited traineeships offered by Alcoa of Australia.

Both women were chosen from a pool of 640 applicants from all over WA and are two of only three females in the select group.

This is the first time in the decade-long program where the intake had equal females and males.

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Both trainees could not believe they had been chosen from such a large number of applicants and were hopeful for the opportunities the traineeships would bring.

“It’s amazing I’ve been selected to work at Alcoa’s Kwinana Alumina Refinery; the complexity and scale of operations are what appeal to me and I know being trained there is going to see me succeed throughout my career,” Eloise said.

Amy will undertake her traineeship at Pinjarra Alumina Refinery.

“Gaining this technical experience at Alcoa is really exciting to me and I know my career will benefit from this valuable training,” she said.

The 18-month traineeships, which include TAFE studies and practical assessments earning participants a Certificate 2 and 3 in Process Plant Operations, come at a challenging time for training in the State.

Department of Training and Workforce Development figures show the total number of local apprentices and trainees fell 10 per cent in the year to March 2017 – or about 4000 people.

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