Shifting the Earth at Diggerman Training
With a massive infrastructure boom driving soaring demand for operators, Nicole May explores how premier, hands-on training is shaping the future of Queensland’s civil construction.
While the rest of us might drive past a construction site completely oblivious to the shifting ground underneath, the team at Diggerman Training feels every single vibration. They feel the sheer scale of Queensland’s monumental $116.8 billion construction boom and the ticking clock of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. They know Australia needs 300,000 skilled operators in the dirt by the middle of 2027.
Where others see simple dust, Diggerman feels a once-in-a-generation window of opportunity – transforming raw curiosity into absolute capability. On a sprawling, seven-acre purpose-built facility in Coolum Beach, Diggerman Training is leading this workforce expansion. Step onto the site at 13 Junction Drive, and the immediate impression is of a fully operational, simulated civil construction site. Heavy machinery – dozers, excavators, graders, rollers, and haul trucks – sits ready as active tools of a thriving trade.
This simulated workspace mimics real-world conditions, offering flexible training schedules and night sessions under floodlights to fit around demanding lifestyles. The intelligence behind this hands-on training ground is Founder Richard Burke. To look at him today – outfitted in high-vis, moving with the assured confidence of more than two decades managing heavy plant – it is hard to picture him as a school deputy principal.
Yet, 23 years ago, driven by a desire for change, Richard swapped his whiteboard and tie for a pair of work boots, bought his first truck and a small skid steer, and started digging.
What he did have, however, was an educator’s understanding of how people learn. As his one-man residential earthmoving business evolved into a major civil operation, he recognised that the key to sustaining industry growth lay in a new generation of skilled operators who understood site safety and professional culture.
Deciding to train them himself, Richard transitioned from running a fleet to focusing solely on Diggerman Training, which now processes over 5,000 students annually. The philosophy behind Diggerman is a masterclass in modern vocational education. In the civil sector, there is a massive difference between understanding theory and having the muscle memory to glide an excavator bucket through wet clay safely.
Richard said that with the sector expanding so quickly, the primary demand was for true, competent operators who could hit the ground running.
“We value the quality of the training,” he said. “We ensure our students get maximum time in the seat. You cannot learn how to manage a 20-tonne machine by reading a manual or staring at a screen. You have to feel how the machine responds, how it shifts under load, and how to operate it safely when the conditions are far from perfect.”
The training delivered at Coolum is both comprehensive and diverse, covering a broad range of skills and career pathways within the civil construction and earthmoving industries.
Programs combine essential safety training with extensive practical learning, giving students the opportunity to develop hands-on skills across areas such as plant operations, roadworks, drainage and pipe laying.
While every student begins with the fundamentals of workplace safety, the real learning takes place out in the field, where theory is put into practice. Students perform site-specific activities to learn real civil environments. The same depth applies to high-risk courses, which form the backbone of commercial developments.
To watch an assessment at Coolum is to see this in action: students perform tense blind lifts – relying entirely on radio or whistle blasts. Guided by 17 professional trainers with over 20 years of experience, students execute the lift with calm precision. Many trainers are former operators from Richard’s earthmoving division who understand that a rigid classroom does not work for everyone.
Richard said building rapport was really important, and classrooms are named after Sunshine Coast mountains to help everyone feel comfortable. This rapport-first approach works.
What sets Diggerman apart is its unique operational DNA. Backed by Diggerman Earthmoving, students gain access to a massive industry network. For those who excel, the transition from student to employee is seamless. Richard said it was a real nursery for potential operators, noting that civil contractors and labour-hire companies constantly reach out looking for talented students screened through their star-level system, which provides a direct, trusted career pathway.
The team at Diggerman Training knows that the construction worker shortage is set to get even bigger as major projects ramp up. This represents an extraordinary window of opportunity for workers looking to enter the trade. As the engines start up across the seven acres at Coolum, Diggerman represents the gold standard of modern vocational education, proving safety, confidence, and genuine competence are built in the dirt, one hour of seat-time at a time.
THE DIGGERMAN TICKET
Ready to trade the desk for the dirt?
• Courses: More than 40 nationally recognised courses across civil construction, earthmoving, machinery operation, high-risk work, and workplace safety.
• Funding: Construction Skills Queensland (CSQ) funding available on many courses.
• National Recognition: Every qualification is nationally recognised; the ticket you earn with Diggerman Training is recognised by employers across Queensland and Australia-wide.
• Flexible scheduling: Weekly courses, multiple time slots, and online theory options.
Phone 5351 1811 or scan the
Visit www.diggermantraining.com.au to get started.
