History

STEPS Employment & Training Solutions is the principal trading name of Southern Training, Employment and Placement Solutions Ltd. STEPS is a community owned, not for profit public benevolent institution whose mission is:

“To alleviate the effects of poverty and disadvantage by seeking and initiating employment, training and community development opportunities, which facilitate and support positive change for job seekers, employers and communities.”

Originally established in the Huon Valley area (see History of Bowmont Centre), south of Hobart in 1984, STEPS has been a contracted provider of the Commonwealth Government’s Job Network services since their inception in 1998, and a provider of training, recruitment and other related services for a similar period. During that time STEPS has actively assisted more than 18,000 job seekers and 1,000 employers, with most of our effort aimed at assisting disadvantaged job seekers and communities prosper.

From an organisation of barely a dozen people in 1998, operating from one site – the Bowmont Centre in Franklin – STEPS has now grown to occupy seven permanent service delivery sites (Moonah, Hobart, Rosny, Sorell, Kingston, Huonville, and Training Solutions in Hobart), as well as its head office in Hobart. The staff currently numbers around 100.

In December 2000 STEPS purchased the Shipwrights Point School of Wooden Boatbuilding, and developed and added a second workshop and a visitor centre exhibiting material and information related to wooden boats and boatbuilding. In December 2002 the school became known as The Wooden Boat Centre - Tasmania, and is now leased to a private operator.

In early 2005 STEPS set the foundations in place for a new operating division, STEPS Community Housing Solutions, which focuses on developing and managing the construction, sale and/or rental of affordable housing in support of the Tasmanian Government’s “Affordable Housing Strategy”.

In mid 2005 we formalised our community support endeavours by creating another new division, STEPS Community Solutions.

“This is an organisation that has grown from strength to strength in serving the community of southern Tasmania. We have developed and built expertise in fields that materially help individuals learn new skills, get and keep jobs, and overcome some of their barriers and challenges; and we assist employers to get and keep the right people for their jobs.

“We not only believe that we are best placed and best skilled to meet your job or staffing needs, but that we also have ‘the runs on the board’ to prove it .”

Ken Langston - Chief Executive Officer

© Copyright 2006 Southern Training, Employment and Placement Solutions Inc. All Rights Reserved