History
NECA Foundation was established in 1992 by a group of NECA members, contractors, generous industry supporters and the NECA NSW registered training organization (previously known as NECA Group Training NSW). We are indebted to the generosity of those initial benefactors, and the NECA NSW staff, who made the Foundation possible.
The Foundation was originally called the ElectroComms Contracting Foundation and was established with the vision of being a national organisation, dedicated to developing outstanding young tradespeople in the electrotechnology industry into successful business professionals, and future industry leaders.
In service of that vision, the Foundation offered scholarships to electricians who wanted to undertake professional development beyond that offered by their employers. In recent years, with expanded government support of trade training, there has been less demand for scholarships, but they are still available to eligible tradespeople, should they need help with accessing appropriate professional development. (More details are here.)
We have also offered courses aimed at giving ambitious tradespeople the business skills they needed to transition from the site office to a head office. We are still committed to that aim, but there are a lot more training options available now than there were when we started, and needs vary from state to state; so we are currently looking at ways to add value to the existing options in a way that is applicable to tradespeople in all parts of the country.
In August 2016, the Foundation became a company limited by guarantee (as a wholly-owned subsidiary of NECA National).
August 2016 also saw the Foundation registered as a charity with the ACNC, and, as of 2025, we have charity and not-for-profit status with both the ACNC and ATO. This means that all donations receive Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status, and are tax deductible.