Getting a jump start into the smash repair industry

From the moment Laura Sikorski passed her driving test as a teenager, she was obsessed with cars. She just didn’t know that she could make a career out of them.

That was until she read an ad on the Internet for the NRMA Insurance JumpStart Autobody Scholarships.

The program was developed in 2000, partly in response to smash repairers’ concerns.

“Repairers told us that they had difficulty attracting and retaining staff,” says Paul Hardie, Manager Customer & Community Support at NRMA Insurance.

“From our point of view, we need to ensure there are well-skilled technicians doing quality repairs on our customers’ cars. Having a sustainable smash repair industry is in everyone’s interests.”

Laura applied for an NRMA Insurance JumpStart Autobody Scholarship and was accepted. As part of the Scholarship, she attended TAFE for 18 weeks of full-time training in panel beating and spray painting.

NRMA Insurance provided essential personal protective equipment and helped her find a job with one of our preferred smash repairers . NRMA Insurance will also give up to $8,000 of financial support for both Laura and her employer as an incentive for her to complete her full apprenticeship.

She is now a first-year car spray painting apprentice and loving it.

“I’m not sure what I would have done if I hadn’t found JumpStart,” says Laura. “ I t gave me the opportunity to do what I want to do, and in three years I’ll have my professional qualification. Now I have an exciting career ahead of me.”

The JumpStart Autobody Scholarship and Jumpstart School-based Traineeship program is delivered in all states of Australia and the ACT. There are currently more than 400 people enrolled in the program.

JumpStart is one of the ways in which we are helping to build a sustainable smash repair industry, which in turn will ensure our customers continue to receive quality service and autobody repairs.