Hayley Gladdis is competing in the painting and decorating category the WorldSkills Australia National Competition. Picture: Mark Brake

Australia’s best apprentices and trainees will compete in the WorldSkills Australia 2016 National Competition in Melbourne in October, showcasing their trades and skills with sights set on the podium.

This year’s event is to be the largest yet with 60 skill categories now including areas such as caring, game design and development, visual merchandising and marine mechanics.

It will require 300 judges and $10 million of materials and equipment including 8 tonnes of steel, 10km of cabling, 9000 bricks, 80 mannequin heads, 600kg of flour and 3000 stems of flowers and foliage.

WorldSkills Australia chief executive Brett Judd said competitors should be celebrated even more than our sporting champions.

“With the Olympic Games in Rio we celebrate the gold medallists that have dedicated themselves (and) bring them back to Australia and put them on a pedestal, but what will (they) do for the economic growth of Australia’s future?” he said.

“The young people coming through WorldSkills are not only being challenged to become the best but they have to think about what it means to become a future leader. They will employ people, pay taxes and be innovative and creative in their industry.”

In NSW, Sydney’s Mitchell Baird, 19, will compete in WorldSkills’ carpentry category and said he signed up after being encouraged by his teacher at TAFE.

“He wanted me to go a step further and do something not many people have tried,” he said.

At the competition, Mr Baird will have 18 hours across three days to build one segment of a seven-segment gazebo.

Mitchell Baird, 19, is a third-year apprentice carpenter who will attend the WorldSkills Australia National Competition. Picture: Melvyn KnipeSource:News Corp Australia

“I’ve done roofing and stuff at work but nothing that complex,” he said.

“When I go to training (once a week) it’s pretty full on. I go to TAFE and stay there until about 10pm at night.

“I’m hoping to do my builder’s course next year, which is a certificate IV, then hopefully somewhere down the track have my own company.”

Victorian Chloe Biddiscombe, 24, will compete in WorldSkills’ jewellery category where she will be given a technical drawing of the piece she must create.

Each day she will complete one of three components, which will be marked both individually and as a whole.

“From a young age I loved jewellery, looking at it and making it,” she said.

“When I was about 12 my mum and I went into Ruby Tuesday Jewellery, and it was then that I decided I wanted to be a jeweller. Through high school I chose subjects that allowed me to make jewellery and I had a very supportive teacher.”

After beginning a bachelor degree only to have the course structure change to no longer focus on jewellery, Ms Biddiscombe found another way to follow her passion.

Chloe Biddiscombe will be competing in the jewellery category. Picture: Kylie ElseSource:News Limited

She landed an apprenticeship at Ruby Tuesday and, combined with training at Melbourne Polytechnic, earned a Certificate III in Jewellery Manufacture.

She will compete against five other jewellers at the WorldSkills National Competition.

South Australian Hayley Gladdis, 22, will compete in WorldSkills’ painting and decorating category.

She has trained one day a week for the past six months but recently ramped up to two or three days a week now the competition is approaching.

“It’s pretty full-on,” she said.

“I work a full day at work then go to TAFE and spend a few hours with my lecturer practising all the different aspects then about 8pm I go home.

“It’s something I want to be proud of and it gives my employer a boost as well.”

The painting and decorating competition will include tasks such as wallpapering a corner and around a door frame within an hour, colour matching a specific paint shade, and painting a door with a mirror-like finish.

Ms Gladdis said hers was a male-dominated industry but encouraged more women to get involved.

“If it’s something you enjoy, it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks,” she said.

“The main customers talking about colours are females because they are the ones looking after the house and doing the decorating so to have a female in the company and working with females is always going to be a bonus.”

Dhana Stokes is competing in the Primary Industries category of the WorldSkills National Competition. Photographer: Liam Kidston.Source:News Limited

Queenslander Dhana Stokes will compete in WorldSkills’ primary industries category.

She is completing her vocational training alongside Year 11 at Dakabin State High School and has been learning to drive a tractor despite not yet being old enough to drive a car.

“I like (the course) because it’s outdoors and I love animals,” she said.

“I don’t like being stuck inside and it’s very hands-on, which suits me to a tee.

“I probably will end up at university at the end and study agricultural science (but) before I go I’ll do a gap year working in a feed lot so I can see the real world problems.”

There are 11 competitors representing Tasmania this year.

They are Ashley Viney in automotive mechanics, Arron Ladlow in bricklaying, Joshua Boon in cabinetmaking, Lewis Kirkman in carpentry, Bradley Clark in construction steel work, Kyle Skipworth in electrical installation, Braydan Black in fitting, James Barrett in heavy vehicle mechanics, Jai North in retail butchery, Hamish Chamley in sheet metal work, and Cody Best in welding.

There are four competitors representing the Northern Territory this year.

They are Chloe Jane Taylor in cookery, Jemma Hayman in retail baking — bread, Dannii Tawhi in business services, and Georgia English in food and beverage.

The WorldSkills Australia National Competition, running October 6 to 8 at Melbourne Showgrounds, is free to attend and will also feature interactive Try-a-skill demonstrations and a careers and employment expo.

Visit worldskills.org.au

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