Media Release: 19th August 2024
The Capital Group on behalf of National Skills Week
Public and private sector more in-sync than ever to grow apprenticeships
National Skills Week Chairman Brian Wexham spoke at the launch of National Skills Week 2024 about the important place apprenticeships continue to have in the Australian economy.
Mr Wexham said, “Encouragingly many school students are recognising the benefits of vocational education in their career development.
“With skills shortages come career opportunities, and the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List identifies over 110 occupations where there is an acute shortage.
“People of working age starting out or seeking a career change in one of the shortage categories may be eligible to receive the Australian Apprentice Training Support Payment of up to $5,000. This financial support is paid over four instalments and front-loaded to ensure greater help in the first year of training. This is when people typically incur start-up costs and are paid the least. The payment is also designed to help bolster apprenticeship completion, which still sits at less than 50 per cent nationally.
“Apprentices in past decades essentially had to fend for themselves with employers and experienced little protection. Apprenticeship Support Australia (ASA), however, offers free services to apprentices, trainees and employers. ASA helps connect potential apprentices and employers; provides assessment services to determine readiness and ability to undertake an apprenticeship (recommending support where necessary); and delivers tailored guidance to applicants.”
The public and private sector are more in-sync than ever to grow apprenticeships, but it’s also clear more needs to be done. Earthmoving machinery giant, Komatsu Australia’s Apprentice Development System has earned widespread recognition, including winning Gold for employing Australian Apprentices at the National Training Awards in 2023. The company’s recruitment focus aligns with several occupations on the Australian Apprenticeships Priority List, namely:
- Plant mechanic
- Electrician
- Automotive electrician
- Mechanical fitter
- Electrical fitter
- Boilermaker and
- Fitter Machinist.
Komatsu Australia Managing Director and CEO, Sean Taylor, said about their youth program, “Our customers often spend six-figures to lease or purchase large plant equipment from our product range and expect their investment to keep working reliably. We therefore cast a careful eye over school-leavers who apply to enter one of our apprenticeship streams. Komatsu has a six-step recruitment process to ensure a good fit: online application; a game-based assessment; interview at an Engagement Centre; pre-employment checks; formal offer and onboarding.
“Komatsu apprenticeship training sessions are based in Brisbane or Perth with all expenses paid, and staff can look forward to ongoing training and upskilling for career development. Our pay and conditions are highly competitive. Whichever stream our apprentices enter, the first skillset they acquire can act as a launchpad to other parts in the business. Roles that today’s apprentice can aspire to include workshop technician, product specialist, leading hand, technical support, service manager and trainer.”
While Australia’s construction and mining industries remain large employers, they face competition from a growing sector. The Climate Council reports a 50 per cent renewable energy target in 2030 will lead to over 28,000 new jobs, nearly 50 per cent more than if energy sources did not change. The Council added a large proportion of these new jobs will stem from construction and installation activities related to renewable energy infrastructure.
Direct FTE employment in renewable energy activities in Australia was estimated at 26,850 jobs in 2018-19, a 27 per cent increase over the previous year. This was driven by construction activity for roof-top solar photovoltaic (PV) systems (2,880 additional FTE jobs), large scale solar PV systems (1,600 additional FTE jobs) and wind farms (1,220 additional FTE jobs).
Clean energy work opportunities will continue to multiply, but Clean Energy Council Director of Workforce Development, Dr Anita Talberg, has noted potential supply constraints, “…to achieve 82 per cent renewable generation in the National Electricity Market and 43 per cent emissions reduction below 2005 levels by 2030 [Australia needs]:
- 32,000 additional electricians, far greater than the projected labour supply and
- 450,000 jobs in construction of clean energy generation and transmission infrastructure, representing one third of all jobs growth in Australia by 2030.” (source: Clean Energy Council media release, 3 October 2023).
The net zero transition’s impact on workforce demand
The transition to net zero emissions is expected to drive unprecedented technology change in the energy sector as Australia reduces its reliance on fossil fuel sources of energy.
There is a range of technology transitions that will affect workers in the energy sector, including:
- Electricity generation will become less centralised and more dispersed as electricity is increasingly sourced from renewable resources such as solar and wind, and less reliant on large coal and gas-fired generators.
- Renewable technologies are evolving rapidly, with forms of energy storage becoming increasingly important to energy systems.
- Electrification of fossil fuel energy use in transport, light industry and buildings will build demand for electrical infrastructure.
- Gas supply will experience changes and challenges as electrification reduces some demand, and zero-emissions alternatives such as green hydrogen and biogases are developed to replace widespread natural gas usage.
The Clean Energy Generation:
Workforce needs for a net zero economy states Australia will likely need 2,000 more Electricians in the next seven years and close to two million workers in building and engineering trades by 2050 to meet current emissions targets.
These workers that Jobs & Skills Australia is forecasting will be required across the entire labour market, not just those who are directly employed within the energy sector.
In June 2024, the Albanese Labor Government announced it was expanding the New Energy Apprenticeships Program which provides incentives to encourage more people into sectors that are playing a critical role in transitioning Australia to a net zero economy, and supporting our goal of a Future Made in Australia.
The program will be broadened to respond to issues raised by industry during consultations about the practical issues facing key sectors as they transition to clean energy and adapt to new technology.
The changes will help assist more apprentices and trainees skilling-up in sectors with exposure to clean energy – like housing construction, automotive and advanced manufacturing – and remove a requirement that an apprentice’s work be solely dedicated to clean energy, whilst retaining a clean energy skilling purpose for the apprenticeship.
The government is also expanding the types of apprenticeships that are eligible, including designing and constructing hydroelectricity, solar and battery installations, electric vehicle maintenance and more.
Electric Vehicles (EVs) are a rapidly increasing part of Australia’s automotive market, so the government is ensuring that apprentice mechanics learning to work on EVs can access the program as the industry changes.
MEGT Founded as a registered Group Training Organisation (GTO) works hard to improve Apprentice retention rates.
MEGT CEO Mathew Hick commented that “Apprenticeship Completion rates remain too low, one of our specialities is mentoring, we know with mentoring the completion rates and retention rates jump massively . So we have a lot of mentors on the road. We risk assess our cohort and align mentors to those we feel are at risk.”
A full interview with Mathew Hick can be found on this link https://www.
MEGT is proud to have worked with more than 450,000 Australian businesses while helping over 1.5 million Australians into work. This includes over 700,000 apprenticeship completions and over 7,000 people with disability.
MEGT as a not-for-profit business is committed to first nations employment programs and support. MEGT CEO Matthew Hick explains, “Our Indigenous Apprenticeship and Traineeship Network (IATN) does several practical things in the interest of reconciliation:
· Provides cultural awareness to employees
· Works with first nations communities to reduce disadvantage and inequity
· Employs, trains and mentors Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people through a range of programs.”
More information about the organisations in this release
- Apprenticeship Support Australia can be found here
- Australian Apprenticeship Priority List can be found here
- Clean Energy Council URL is here
- Climate Council URL is here
- Komatsu Australia web address here
- MEGT Australia web address is here
- National Careers Institute can be found here
- https://poweringskills.com.au/
wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ Workforce-Plan-Report_2024_ Version-14-August-2024.pdf - Joint media release: Encouraging more apprentices into clean energy sectors | Ministers (dcceew.gov.au)