Mark Vender
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has targeted trades as a key area for investment ahead of the Federal Budget, by announcing an extension to the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements and Completing Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidies. The end date for the program will now be extended to June 30, 2022.
Through the subsidy, businesses that engage an Australian Apprentice between may be eligible for a wage subsidy of 50 per cent for a 12-month period, to a maximum of $7,000 per quarter. After 12 months of this support, employers are eligible to a further wage subsidy for the second and third years of an apprenticeship. Under this part of the scheme, eligible employers receive a 10 per cent wage subsidy in the second year of an eligible apprenticeship, up to a maximum of $1,500 per quarter per apprentice, and a 5 per cent wage subsidy in the third year of their apprenticeship, to a maximum of $750 per quarter per apprentice.
Morrison says the additional funding of $365.3 million will support an extra 35,000 apprentices and trainees get into a job.
“By backing 385,000 apprentices in their training we’re boosting the pipeline of workers Australia is going to need for a stronger economy and a stronger future,” he says.
“Trades training shores up our skills pipeline, gets people into work, drives down unemployment and gives businesses the confidence to keep on hiring.
“Learning a trade doesn’t just give you skills for a job, it gives you the skills and opportunities for your future. Out of a group of students studying trades I met just last week, more than half told me they were planning to one day open their own businesses and they know they can do that because they’re learning skills that people need.”
Morrison notes that there are more than 350,000 apprentices and trainees in-training and a record 220,000 of these are trade apprentices. He says the extensions of the wage subsidy programs are about making those numbers go even higher.”
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has praised the effectiveness of the program, but has called for a longer-term commitment from government.
“Business needs a two-year commitment to extend the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements program if we are going to see lasting benefits that boost skills and address chronic workforce shortages,” says ACCI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar.
“As it stands, a three-month extension of the BAC scheme doesn’t build into the federal budget an ongoing commitment for businesses to continue hiring apprentices and trainees amid current economic pressures.
“The Government’s BAC subsidy has been outstandingly successful in rebuilding our country’s skills base in the COVID recovery period – since the inception of the scheme, we have seen real growth in these job and training opportunities, ending a decade of decline.
“If we are to lock in these gains, a three-month extension is simply not enough.”
Within the HVAC&R industry, although increasing apprentice numbers is seen as a priority, there are concerns about the high number who fail to finish their apprenticeship.
The VET qualification completion rates 2019 report, published through the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, indicates that actual completion rates for VET qualifications commencing in 2016 (the latest year for which observed actual rates are available), were just 45.2 per cent for certificate III qualifications.
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