Supporting Apprentices to build Australia’s future

The Gillard Government will invest more than $200 million over four years to boost apprentice completion rates and provide enhanced mentoring services to support apprentices during their training.

Minister for Skills and Jobs, Senator Chris Evans, said the Government would work with industry to strengthen the apprenticeship system to meet critical skills needs as part of the Building Australia's Future Workforce package.

In this Budget the Government will provide:

1. $100 million to invest in initiatives to ensure that apprentices progress through training as they acquire the right skills at the right pace.

Industry will be able to provide training customised to the needs of individual apprentices so they can move more quickly through their training and advance to the next level of learning and pay.
Apprentices who have gained skills on-the-job will be able to have their skills recognised so they can gain higher qualifications quickly, provided quality requirements are met.
Model clauses will be introduced into awards to enable apprentices who progress based on their skills to receive higher first and second year wages.

2. $101 million for a national mentoring apprenticeship program to improve workplace learning and help up to 40,000 apprentices complete their training.

"The Government will also help support school leavers considering an apprenticeship through Apprenticeship Advisors to assist them in choosing their career path. There are around 448,000 Australians undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships but current attrition rates mean only around half of these students will complete their training and gain a qualification," Senator Evans said.

"We need to lift the quality of apprenticeship training to retain more apprentices and we must adopt a more innovative and streamlined training system."

Senator Evans said the Government is committed to ensuring the Australian Apprenticeship system is simplified, streamlined and better targeted to meet the critical skills needs of the economy.

"We will continue to work with industry, training providers and the states and territories toward a simpler and nationally consistent system, providing relevant, quality training on and off the job," he said.