On Saturday 4 March 2023 the Chair of the Floor Covering Institute of Australia (FCIA), Brett Sturgess, had the pleasure of hosting the first ever national flooring industry Gala at the historic Plaza Ballroom in Melbourne. In welcoming more than 300 industry leaders from across Australia Brett invited all to engage as one community to celebrate the industry’s aspirations and achievements and contribute to promoting best practice and the upskilling of the entire industry.

 

The FCIA Gala was an excellent opportunity for industry professionals from key flooring associations to gather together to embrace the challenges and opportunities facing us. It was impressive to see so many representatives of the flooring industry celebrating their collective achievements. Since the FCIA’s establishment in 2017 they have been steadily expanding their membership and driving new strategies to benefit the whole industry. A major achievement was the establishment of the first ever flooring industry Registered Training Organisation, FCIA Training Academy, which has over 150 enrolled apprentices in the Certificate III in Flooring Technology across several states and Territories.

 

The Gala enabled everyone to network and understand the major issues and risks to the sustainability of the flooring industry. In her keynote speech, Fiona Wischnewski (CEO of the FCIA Group) highlighted the immediate challenges faced by all sectors:  Manufacturers, Suppliers, Retailers, and Commercial Contractors. These include a critical lack of qualified installers, an aging workforce, a lack of apprentices entering the industry, environmental issues, and industrial relations issues. By bringing the industry together the FCIA took the opportunity to inform business leaders of the significant role they play to enhance the profile of the industry.

For the last six years the FCIA has actively tackled these issues. They now have 450 members, a best practice handbook and have been instrumental in the enrolment of approximately 300 apprentices nationally. In 2021 the FCIA Training Academy was approved as an industry RTO and is delivering funded apprenticeship training in NSW, TAS, ACT (and shortly SA).

 

The inaugural FCIA Gala allowed us to showcase our successes, together with employers and industry leaders who help us achieve our goals, whilst highlighting the road ahead to address the challenges that face our industry, particularly with respect to skilled installers.

At the industry’s first ever Gala, FCIA recognised and honoured some of the best talent with whom we have had the pleasure of working. Firstly, they issued awards to the best-in-class apprentices for each year of the Certificate III in Flooring Technology qualification. Four apprentices (one for each year) had shown outstanding commitment to their training and skills application and exceptional performance on the job at the companies for whom they worked.

 

The FCIA Apprentice of the Year award winners were:

 

  • First Year Apprentice:             Kyle Sankey, Floorworld Nowra.
  • Second Year Apprentice: Lachlan Giuliani, Cooma Furnishings Flooring Xtra.
  • Third Year Apprentice: Joshua Coade, Terry Bro’s Carpet Court.
  • Fourth Year Apprentice: Kaleb Black, Choices Nowra.

 

Next, the first ever FCIA Apprentice Achievement Award was issued to Shaun Haskard who recently graduated from the FCIA Training Academy. Shaun is now a fully qualified flooring installer and continues to make a strong impact in the industry.

 

Thirdly, the FCIA Trainer of the Year Award was awarded to Robert Cole, honouring his efforts as an outstanding trainer and assessor for the FCIA Training Academy. Robert was recognised for his unwavering commitment, knowledge, expertise, and dedicated support for his apprentices.

 

They also recognised the FCIA Employer of the Year which was awarded to Terry Bro’s Carpet Court for their tireless effort and support of the flooring industry through their commitment to training apprentices and leading the way for apprentices to enter the industry.

 

The final award for the evening was the Flooring Association of Victoria’s (FAV) inaugural industry Statesman of The Year award, which was present to Chris Lowe from Lomac Commercial Flooring who joined the flooring industry when he was just 17. This prestigious award recognises Chris’ passion and commitment to training and best practice over a lifetime within the industry. Chris has demonstrated how members of our industry can dedicate their entire working lives to flooring and set the benchmark for sustaining the skills base for the future of the industry.

The Gala presented Fiona with a unique opportunity to share FCIA’s vision for the future of the flooring industry by announcing new FCIA initiatives such as the Flooring Protect insurance program aimed specifically for the protection of our Members and Associate Members. This is a cost-effective insurance package which, alongside other standard cover, protects policy holders against flooring failures. This major initiative complements other FCIA products and services such as skills recognition, skilled migration (Visa) programs, technical bulletins, informing Australian Standards in sustainability and best practice, and lobbying State and Commonwealth Governments in the interests of the Flooring industry.

 

All in all, it was an outstanding night where everyone came together for the benefit of the industry. A post-Gala survey gave the evening a 4.9 rating with excellent feedback regarding this and future Galas:

 

  • “It was a pleasure to see a celebration of and forward planning for the industry.”
  • “Keep up the standard as presented on this occasion; it was wonderful.”
  • “More awards, the recognition element was great.”
  • “It was so good, don’t change the format too much.”
  • “Definitely need this annually!”
  • “Encourage more apprentices to come along.”
  • “Could allow some quiet time to enable more networking discussions.”
  • “Expand apprentice of the Year Award to all states.”

 

Many who were present also gave positive feedback on social media, sharing their support for our cause as an industry association, and offering to partner with the FCIA on achieving our future goals for the flooring industry. The night was a resounding success, and the FCIA look forward to hosting another event next year with more members of the flooring industry being present.

 

If you would like to understand more about the FCIA and how you can partner with them to create a better future for the flooring industry, then visit www.fcia.org.au .