The Kimberley Region has now transitioned 18 new staff into Main Roads positions following the completion of the final phase of the Western Australia Government’s initiative, to return road maintenance works in-house.
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This initiative was designed in 2022 to shift from contracting out road maintenance to a new model involving the in-house delivery of road maintenance and some minor capital works.
Transport minister Rita Saffioti says creating more jobs for Western Australian in one of the Government’s top priorities.
“Bringing road maintenance functions back in-house at Main Roads is one way we are delivering that,” she says.
“Road maintenance work was outsourced by the Liberals and Nationals several decades ago, but the in-house delivery model has created hundreds of well-paid local jobs in regional communities across our State.”
The move to in-house delivery of road maintenance has now been rolled out to all seven regional Main Roads offices, as well as the Metropolitan area, including the Incident Response Services with more than 550 new permanent positions filled.
More than 420 of these jobs have been filled by employees previously working for contractors and many of those workers now receive better pay, conditions and have permanent jobs with Main Roads.
The transition back to Main Roads supports regional economies by creating sustainable local jobs and supports the State’s road network by improving response times when issues arise.
Saffioti says not only is the initiative supporting more jobs in regional communities, but it is also helping improve the cost, efficiency and responsiveness of maintenance and minor capital works across the State’s road network.
“Returning road maintenance in-house means better response times when maintenance and repair works are required, as we have the crews ready to respond,” she says.
“It has been very rewarding to see the transition process over the past two years, and to see how the change is delivering better outcomes for workers and regional economies.”
To support the initiative $48.8 million has been invested in new or expanded existing offices and maintenance depots in Manjimup, Broome, Karratha, Esperance, Neerabup, Jandakot and Welshpool.