The National Centre for Vocational Education Research released its latest report on apprenticeship and traineeship numbers on 27 January 2022. The report covers commencements, completions and those in training as at 30 June 2021.
The report shows that commencement numbers continue to rise. Across Australia, commencements for the 12 months to June 2021 had increased by 59.5% compared with the previous 12-month period.
Australian vocational education and training statistics: apprentices and trainees 2021 — June quarter, NCVER, Adelaide
The commencement increase occurs across the board, but is more pronounced for traineeships (non-trade), than apprenticeships (trade). Similarly, all occupations reported strong growth in commencement numbers.
The data indicate that the Commonwealth Government’s Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements (BAC) program, which subsidies apprentice and trainee wages by 50% for the first 12 months (up to $7,000 per quarter) is still impacting strongly on numbers. The subsidy is currently scheduled to expire on 31 March 2022. Ai Group has consistently called for the regular incentives to be increased to better reflect the rising costs to employers of supervising and training apprentices and trainees. This will be more critical when the BAC program finishes.
Ai Group members have been strong supporters of the apprenticeship system for many years. The feedback we have reported recently, via our Skills Urgency report in April 2021 and The Quest for Skills report in September 2021, is that companies generally intend to invest in more apprentices especially with international border restrictions impacting on importing skilled labour. Their greatest difficulty is accessing suitable candidates.
Do you have trouble finding candidates for apprenticeships? The Centre would be interested to hear about your experiences.
