Our History

Born from industry

Barry Coventon started Performance Training (now Pertrain) in 1981 developing high quality and effective training programs and technical publications.

As a maintenance training officer at one of Australia's biggest mines, Barry recognised the need for training that provided practical information to industry workers in a way that was not only engaging for the target audience but was also presented in a way that would be retained by them. Barry's origins as a trainer and assessor gave him a firm appreciation of the need to contextualise training to reflect the needs of both the organisation and the learner.

Initially Pertrain concentrated on ‘on-the-job' and classroom instruction for technical and specialised installations, e.g. hydraulics, pneumatics, transmission systems and diesel engines. All training was designed and delivered in line with Barry's philosophy of "If it is worth presenting, it is worth presenting in a way that will be remembered".

Barry quickly became an industry leader in providing quality training and competency based assessment to the mining industry.

Realising that he could only run so many courses a year, and unable to meet demand for his services, Barry and his wife Sue created Performance Training. Barry and Sue created links between industry subject matter experts and professionals from the training and education sector to create training solutions that were relevant, engaging and technically accurate.

Still with its roots in the technical and safety training areas, Pertrain has continued to develop and our services now include fully accredited interactive computer based instruction.

With a growing demand for nationally accredited training, Pertrain 's RTO team, became a stand-alone business unit within the business and in 2011 became a company in its own right. Performance Training Pty Ltd is a registered training organization (RTO) offering a full range of vocational options including competency and licensing requirements.