	{"id":107750,"date":"2025-06-14T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/tweedcoasttimes\/?p=107750"},"modified":"2025-06-11T20:00:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T10:00:35","slug":"forging-futures-in-metal-fabrication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/tweedcoasttimes\/news\/forging-futures-in-metal-fabrication\/","title":{"rendered":"Forging futures in metal fabrication"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A NEW Wollongbar TAFE program has helped introduce indigenous students to metal fabrication work, while meeting potential employers from across the region.<\/p>\n<p>It was launched by TAFE NSW with the Metal Fabrication for the Mob supported under its Aboriginal Engagement banner from the northern region.<\/p>\n<p>The six-week course is designed to give individuals with no prior experience a taste of metal fabrication and welding, allowing them to design and create their own projects.<\/p>\n<p>It attracted male and female participants with many incorporating their favourite NRL team into the finished works.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This program was designed specifically for beginners to learn the fundamentals of welding and develop basic practical skills,&#8221; a TAFE spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_112595\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-112595\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-112595\" src=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2025\/06\/503953931_1272224134_03771.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-112595\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants in the metal work program made fire pits with an NRL flavour to them. Photo: SUPPLIED.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It provides an opportunity to hear from local industries about employment opportunities and first-hand from apprentices what it&#8217;s like to work in the engineering and metal fabrication industry.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A big thank you to local industries, councils and apprentices for coming along to share information, experience and local employment opportunities with the group.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The participants learnt about safety and three basic welding techniques, which allowed them to create a unique fire pit and additional pieces.<\/p>\n<p>The group also spent time working with the Career Pathways team to update their CVs to use in potential employment applications.<\/p>\n<p>Ballina Shire Council, Kyogle Council, Harwood Marine and Sunshine Sugar supported the program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A NEW Wollongbar TAFE program has helped introduce indigenous students to metal fabrication work, while meeting potential employers from across the region. It was launched by TAFE NSW with the Metal Fabrication for the Mob supported under its Aboriginal Engagement banner from the northern region. The six-week course is designed to give individuals with no [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/tweedcoasttimes\/news\/forging-futures-in-metal-fabrication\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":107751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-107750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Forging futures in metal fabrication - Tweed Coast Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TAFE NSW&#039;s Metal Fabrication Training introduces Indigenous students to welding skills and job paths with support from local employers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/tweedcoasttimes\/news\/forging-futures-in-metal-fabrication\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Forging futures in metal fabrication - 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