Blog: Vocational Education and Training Funds a Headstart on Life, As Well As Careers
Written by Cara Jenkin
Vocational education and training students are being paid thousands of dollars to learn their work skills, while immediately putting them into practice on the job.
It is giving young people a significant leg up in both their careers and their lives, enabling them to save to buy houses, new cars or overseas holidays at the same time they are honing their skills to become qualified.
With full-time apprentice wages starting at about $500 a week and increasing as they progress through their training, apprentices can have earned at least $75,000-$100,000 by the time they are qualified in their trade.
Salaries for full-time trainees, meanwhile, start at about $450 a week, meaning they could have earned at least $23,000-$70,000 by the time they complete a one, two or three-year traineeship.
However, wages vary by occupation. For bricklayers, for example, Brick & Block Careers reveals apprentices can have earned $130,000 by the end of a three-year apprenticeship. That figure also excludes any overtime apprentices may undertake.
Even those undertaking school-based apprenticeships and traineeships while still completing their high school certificates are earning at a pro-rata rate, which depends on their work hours.
Apprentices and trainees are significantly ahead of their university counterparts, who are yet to put their skills into practice while learning. The Australian Taxation Office reports are university graduates are, on average, $26,494 in debt with HECS-HELP fees.
Marija Rathouski, 23, is one vocational education and training graduate who has just bought her first home because she has been earning since high school.
That money has come from work that has helped her further her career, starting with a school-based traineeship.
“I did an Australian School-based Apprenticeship in IT and from there I did a few different types of certificates, a biometric technology one, community services and the most recent one a Certificate IV in Mental Health,” she says.
“My IT placement was in the Australian Federal Police doing IT for them and I thought that was incredible – and I got paid as well.
“Now I’m doing a traineeship and a Diploma in Leadership and Management through my work and it’s my favourite (of all the qualifications she’s obtained) – I love it.”
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For Marija, who aspires to be a police officer, having an income over the past few years also has enabled her to liberate herself from homelessness as well as develop the variety of skills she needs for her dream job.
Family breakdown when she was aged 15 meant she needed a way to support herself, so being paid to learn was significantly appealing.
“When you’re homeless, you need something to keep going and a goal is something to focus on, and when there’s money and you’re only 15/16, it’s a pretty big deal,” she says.
“I also wasn’t really sure what kind of skills you need to be a police officer.
“There’s a lot of community involvement (in being a police officer) so you need people skills, such as communicating and talking, and it’s been a bit of a full circle as well, as I was needing that support myself.
“Now I’m working in the housing and homelessness sector and those skills, community services and mental health, are really important.”
However, Marija says vocational education has not been all about the money and the practical, hands-on nature of the training has suited her learning style.
“The traditional idea of going to school wasn’t for me,” she says.
“The idea of doing tertiary study and going to university… I wasn’t someone who would read books and sit in lectures, I needed to do something different.
“Some people go to university because that’s what they are told and they think, ‘That’s what I should do’ then end up with a HECS debt, with a degree that they probably don’t even finish or finish and are not actually passionate about.
“For me, I found out what I’m passionate about and I’ve got into a career without a HECS debt.
“I just bought my own home, and a couple of years ago, I was 15 and homeless and had no stability in my life, so to come out of it being a homeowner is pretty incredible.”
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The Federal Government’s Australian Jobs report (pg 16. pg 18.) reveals the median full-time annual earnings for VET graduates in 2022 was $70,400 for those with a diploma or advanced diploma, $72,900 for certificate IV graduates, $54,800 for certificate III graduates and $46,300 for certificate II graduates.
Meanwhile, the median annual full-time salary for a bachelor degree graduate in 2022 was $68,000.
Organisations such as Apprenticeship Support Australia and MEGT reveals there are many other incentives and financial support that can help apprentices and trainees to complete their training, such as a Living Away from Home Allowance that can be particularly useful for students from regional and remote areas.
Extra support is available for apprentices in priority occupations, such as clean energy careers.
Some vocational education and training courses are also available fee-free, further reducing the expense of study for students.
Marija says it is easy to get started.
“It’s been a game changer because it’s given me stability and a goal to work towards,” she says.
“And it’s been consistent through my life. I started (VET) at 16 and every year after then, I’ve done another (qualification).
“If anyone’s considering it, they should give it a crack. You just don’t know until you give it a go.”
READ MORE ABOUT APPRENTICESHIP AND TRAINEESHIP PATHWAYS AT YOURCAREER.GOV.AU
Cara