Employers hiring Australian apprentices may be eligible for incentives
Australian apprentice and trainee graduates are now finding jobs at a higher rate than pre-pandemic levels, according to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). The latest NCVER Apprentice and trainee outcomes 2021 revealed that 94% of trade apprentice graduates were employed after training, up 2.5 percentage points from 2019.
Similarly, 88.4% of traineeship graduates also found jobs after training, 3.5 percentage points higher than 2019 before COVID-19 spread worldwide.
According to the report, which was cited by the government, the "overwhelmingly majority" were happy with the skills they learned on the job.
"More Australians apprentices and trainees are getting into a job today than before the pandemic, while other countries shed their apprentice workforce we stepped in and put record funding in place, those apprentices are now graduating and getting onto worksites across the country," said Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business Minister Stuart Robert in a statement.
Just recently, the NCVER also found that more than a quarter of Australian employers at 24.7% have an apprentice or trainee with them. This is the highest rate reported since 2011, according to the government announcement.
NCVER said that the surge in businesses taking up apprentices and trainings is because of the government's JobKeeper, the Infection Control Training Fund, Supporting Apprentices and Trainees Wage support, the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage support, and JobTrainer.
Read more: Increase to wages for apprentices
Hiring apprentices
In Australia, employers hiring apprentices may make them qualified for incentives, which are subject to eligibility criteria, waiting periods, and time limits.
Employers interested in taking in apprentices may contact the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network, which will give them advice and help on recruiting, training, and retaining apprentices. According to the Australian Apprenticeships, Apprenticeship Network providers will:
- help employers find an apprentice and registered training organisation
- provide a training contract for employers and their apprentice to sign
- assess the eligibility of the business for incentives
- help employers work out timing and location of off-the-job-training
- provide advice and support employers during the apprenticeship.
Employers of Australian Apprentices may be eligible for the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Programme.
Starting July 1, however, the scheme will be replaced with the Incentives for Australian Apprenticeships, which is described as a "new, simplified, and streamlined" incentives programme for employers of apprentices and trainees.
