The furnishing industry has a wide range of career opportunities available, with apprenticeships and traineeships in areas like cabinetmaking, flooring installation, and glass and glazing. Supporting completion rates across these programs is a priority for the industry, to promote a skilled and sustainable workforce.
Click across the tabs to view active and completed project stages. Consultation takes place at every stage of the project.
As the furnishing industry is made up predominantly of small businesses without dedicated human resources roles, many employers experience barriers to providing the full range of support learners require to complete their training. This includes difficulty navigating the apprenticeship system and shifting expectations around hybrid learning and working models.
To empower employers in their role supporting trainees and apprentices, Skills Insight and FurnishingWorks (a division of ForestWorks) are undertaking this project to develop best-practice guidance materials in consultation with stakeholders.
The materials will be designed to:
A Steering Committee will be established to provide advice throughout the project, including the development of initial draft materials. The project team will contact a range of stakeholders for participation in the committee, including employers, industry associations, unions, Apprenticeship Connect Australia providers, and peak associations that represent priority cohorts.
There will be opportunities for stakeholders to contribute throughout the project. This will include the opportunity to review and provide feedback on the draft materials.
Once the guidance materials have been revised and finalised, they will be made freely available for employers to use.
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Project team

Tim Cleary
Stakeholder Engagement Manager
FurnishingWorks
[email protected]

Belinda Tierney
General Manager
ForestWorks
[email protected]

Australian Cabinet and Furniture Association
Project Delivery Partner
[email protected]
Timeline
Planning | August 2025 |
Development | September 2025 |
Broad Consultation | October 2025 |
Consensus Gathering | November 2025 |
Finalisation | February 2026 |
Publication of materials | March 2026 |
To help employers in their role supporting trainees and apprentices, Skills Insight and FurnishingWorks (a division of ForestWorks) are consulting with stakeholders to develop a Best Practice Guide and supporting materials.
A Steering Committee of stakeholders met on 17 September 2025 to review a draft framework for the Best Practice Guide and provide feedback on its proposed content and format. Broader stakeholder input is now invited on the draft framework to ensure the guide and supporting tools are practical and accessible for furnishing employers.
Your input will be used to refine the Best Practice Guide Framework before the Consensus Gathering stage, during which you will have the opportunity to provide input on a draft of the Best Practice Guide.
Subscribe for updates
If you would like to receive updates about this project, please subscribe to our newsletter and select ‘furnishing’ as one of your industries of interest.
Best Practice Guide Framework
Provide feedback
We welcome your feedback on the draft framework through the following options.
A 10 minute form has been created to collect information about your experience and the kind of content that would be helpful to include in the guide. Responses are being collected between 29 September and 13 October 2025.
Webinars are also being held to discuss the draft framework and seek input from stakeholders.
Please register for the time that best suits you.
You can also email your feedback to the project team at [email protected]
This stage has not yet commenced.
As part of consensus gathering, we check our work with stakeholders to confirm that solutions are in line with expectations.
This stage has not yet commenced.
At the finalisation stage, final checks are conducted and the outcomes of the project are submitted to the Department for consideration. Following this, outcomes are published or enacted.

FurnishingWorks, a part of ForestWorks, is providing support for the management of this JSC project as part of their collaborative partnership with Skills Insight. ForestWorks has an enduring and strong connection working with the forestry, timber, paper, fibre and furnishing industries and have been engaged by Skills Insight to deliver this project in partnership.