When Hannah Usher spotted a Lineworker apprenticeship on Seek, she applied without fully understanding what the role involved. What she couldn’t have known at that point was that four years later, she’d complete her trade and be named Western Power’s Apprentice of the Year 2025.
Her story resists easy packaging. It’s messier than most career narratives, and truer for it.
Starting over in the Avon Valley
After six years in Perth, Hannah, her husband and their two daughters made the decision to move back to Northam, in WA’s beautiful Avon Valley. She was searching for work nearby when the Western Power apprenticeship caught her attention.
“I applied for the role without fully understanding everything the job entailed. If I’m honest, I was very naive.”
The competition for these positions is fierce. At the time Hannah applied, only around 20 Lineworker apprenticeship spots were being filled across the entire state. She worked through each stage of the process: an application, an interview, online testing, a practical assessment at Power Training Services (PTS), and a medical. When the offer came, she didn’t hesitate.
“When I was offered the role, I couldn’t say no. It felt like it was meant to be.”
– Hannah Usher
Four years, one qualification
The Lineworker apprenticeship at Western Power spans four years. Hannah began in January 2022 and completed it in October 2025, moving between formal training at PTS, five electrical units at North Metropolitan TAFE in Midland, and her home depot at Western Power Northam, where she applied everything she had learnt under supervision.
Some of the hardest moments had nothing to do with the technical work. As a mature-aged apprentice returning to the classroom, with two daughters in a regional town, she navigated pressures that no job description prepares you for. Six months into her apprenticeship, local before and after school care was cancelled without warning. She found a way through.
“The most important thing I learnt was to take one day at a time and to talk to people when you need help, or when something isn’t working for you.”
At her depot, Hannah was the only woman in a trade role. That’s a reality many women in non-traditional industries know well. What distinguished her experience was the culture she found around her.
“I personally feel like I was given so much support from all the qualified tradies I worked with. They were patient and wanted to see me succeed. They invested so much time into seeing me succeed, and it made all the difference to how I approached my work and felt coming into work each day.”
The support that made the difference
The trainers at PTS were equally present throughout the four years. Hannah describes them as “so supportive and available.”
“There were numerous times where I would contact them directly for assistance or advice, and they always made time for me or got back to me with relevant information.”
She was also introduced to the Women Trading Up program, run by Apprenticeship Support Australia, which connected her with other women working in non-traditional trades. Through it, she attended the Women in Mining Expo, visited schools across the Wheatbelt including her own former high school, contributed feedback to departments working to strengthen apprenticeship programs for the next generation, and took part in Women in Energy events.
“I found connection with other women in non-traditional trades. For women working in isolation within their own workplaces, that kind of connection matters more than it might appear from the outside.
– Hannah Usher
What a trade qualification actually opens up
On finishing her apprenticeship, Hannah was offered ongoing employment at the Northam depot. No gap. A smooth transition into the next chapter.
She is clear-eyed about what the qualification makes possible beyond the role itself.
“Completing a trade opens up so many doors for the future. You can either continue to work in your trade or pivot and work in another division of the business. You can travel, move or use your trade skills anywhere.”
And for anyone weighing up whether to take the leap, her advice is straightforward:
“Whatever you put into anything is what you will get out of it.”
No two days look the same for Hannah now. She travels across the Wheatbelt, through the valley she has called home for years, doing work that is skilled, physical and genuinely essential. She found a career she loves in the place she chose to raise her family.
