How Norweld is supporting the future of Australian manufacturing
WORDS BY NORWELD
For more than 50 years, Norweld has been building Australian Made aluminium ute trays and ute canopies. But it’ s the people and stories behind the products that we’ re most proud of. With national conversations around apprenticeship drop-out rates, wages and the gender gap, these challenges sit close to home for us and it ' s clear that strong, supported pathways for young people have never been more important.
Across our manufacturing facilities in Cairns, Brisbane and Townsville, Norweld runs a yearround school work experience program that gives students hands-on exposure to welding and fabrication, fitting, CNC routing, safety processes and the day-to-day operations of a busy manufacturing workshop. In 2025 alone, 39 students completed placements, including a growing number of young women, a shift we’ re keen to support by creating an environment where they feel welcome, capable and encouraged.
Students join us through local schools across Cairns, Brisbane and other regions. Placements come via schools, Careers Expos, direct enquiries and through tours led by Isaac Edmiston, Norweld’ s Special Projects Director, who talks with students about career opportunities in manufacturing.
We’ re not trying to fast-track a trade qualification in a week. There’ s no pressure. The goal is simple: provide a safe, practical and supportive experience that helps young people understand the industry and see where they might fit in.
The pathway from work experience to apprenticeship is already strong. This year, we signed off 5 apprentices and another 25 are currently on the tools, with many of these apprentices first walking through our doors as work experience students. They liked what they saw, connected with the team and chose to come back.
At a time when many young people cite low wages as a reason for leaving trades early, Norweld continues to pay significantly above the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2020. Our internal Workshop Development Pathway is structured to stay competitive and reward progression as skills develop. It’ s a practical way of valuing our people and supporting stronger apprenticeship retention, something the entire sector benefits from.
The quality and structure of our work experience approach was recognised when Norweld was invited to contribute to the Cairns Chamber of Commerce’ s Work Experience Guide for Business. Jaime McIntosh, Norweld’ s Executive Chairman, offered a quote for the publication that sums up why we invest so heavily in early career support:
12 ISSUE 56 DECEMBER 2025 / WWW. AFMA. ORG. AU