An Apprentice First Strategy for Australia

The National Australian Apprenticeship Association has published An Apprentice First Strategy for Australia.

This policy paper highlights that current policy settings are not sufficient to narrow the gap between the growth in the labour force and the raw number of apprentices and trainees we need. Or supply the optimal mix of trade and technical skills Australia will require over the next five years.

Across the three scenarios explored in the paper, the world is more contested, AI-enabled, cyber-exposed, climate-stressed and misinformation-prone. So, Australia will need workers who can keep essential systems functioning under pressure. It will also need visible pathways into secure work that help maintain social trust during transition.

Apprenticeships are learning models designed for the economy that is coming: an economy where people must learn continuously, use technology intelligently, build real things, care for real people, manage real risks and keep improving through work.

The paper outlines that planned changes to incentive levels mean that financial supports for apprentices, trainees and their employers will be further reduced by 24% next financial year. Apprenticeship In-training levels are already lower than in 2015 whilst the labour force has grown 22% since then.

The Association is calling on the government to reverse the decline by:

• Recognising that falling employer engagement in the apprenticeship system is a threat to national economic resilience and trust infrastructure.
• Pausing the planned step down to incentives due to take effect on January 1^st
• Returning the Skilling Australians Fund to its original purpose as a permanent mechanism to support additional apprenticeships and traineeships, enabling them to keep pace with the growth in the labour force.
• Rebalance apprentice and employer supports around the quality of the apprenticeship experience.
• Develop a national apprentice strategy around the 10 recommendations in the Association's report.

The positions put forward by the Association closely align with a key message the Centre has been conveying for some time: the trajectory of apprenticeship and traineeship commencements in Australia is deeply concerning. The cost and complexity employing apprentices and trainees is a major issue that needs to be addressed, yet government policy decisions are making this situation worse.

You can read Australian Industry Group's most recent commentary on these issues here: The cost of apprenticeship cuts is made clear in the data | Australian Industry Group