Article by Philip Ashley

Young people are much less interested in starting an apprenticeship than they used to. In addition, only around 55% of apprentices actually complete an apprenticeship, and 77% of all workplace complaints come from apprentices. Despite throwing over a billion dollars at it, the apprenticeship system is in a lot of trouble.

Trouble in Paradise

T.S. Eliot once wrote, “Most of the trouble in the World is caused by people wanting to be important.” Case in point, in September 2022, the Prime Minister announced $1 billion in joint Federal-State funding for fee-free TAFE in 2023 and accelerated delivery of 465,000 fee-free TAFE places. This year’s federal budget included $265 million over four years to support the employment of more apprentices and trainees. Despite 1.25 billion dollars in funding, Australia’s apprenticeship system is, in my opinion, in tatters.

As a past trade teacher and teaching centre manager at a Victorian TAFE College, and with extensive connections to industry through my 800-odd trade related articles written over 30 years, I believe I am well-placed to offer an opinion on the state of trade training and apprenticeships in Australia. It saddens me that this once proud vocational pursuit is a shadow of what it used to be, and is very likely not to get any better, no matter how much money the government throws at it.

Are Dollars a Solution?

And maybe that’s the point. Throwing money at a problem is something governments on both sides do when they either don’t understand the issues or aren’t actually interested in finding out what the problems really are. Yes, reviews have been conducted and ‘conclusions’ reached, but how much of that ‘research’ actually comes from industry and the TAFE sector, and how much is unbiased? Given that modern government is most likely about getting re-elected, tossing around some taxpayer dollars seems like a quick fix to make the problem go away, at least until the next election.

As long as I can remember there have been apprenticeship incentive schemes. You would think that if money was a real solution, the problem would have been fixed decades ago. But here we are in 2024 with another quarter of a billion dollars as a ‘solution’ to a skills shortage that will have a real detrimental impact to the country and its population. A Supplier article in the last issue reported, “Some employers have queried whether the additional amount will make much of a difference when it comes to apprentice and trainee recruitment and retention” and I heartily agree with that sentiment.

‘Perceived’ Issues

On 19^th February 2024, the Minister for Skills and Training, the Hon Brendan O’Connor MP, announced the establishment of the Strategic Review of the Australian Apprenticeships Incentive System. In this ‘review’ it was noted that ‘The Intergenerational Report 2023 identifies 5 forces shaping this transformation. These are an ageing population; climate change and net zero goals; rising demand for care and support services; and geopolitical risk and fragmentation (more jobs in defence).

Technological and digital transformation was the fifth ‘force’ affecting the transformation but surprisingly (or not so) was hardly mentioned in the text that followed. In fact, I checked it twice and couldn’t find any further discussion. Plenty about aged care, the climate, social services and the possibility of future conflict but next to nothing about the actual trades and the issues affecting the uptake of apprenticeships and the maintenance of Australia’s skills base.

It appears all the ‘talking points’ were covered but any factors affecting industry were a much too difficult an issue to explore. For instance, ‘encouraging greater gender balance across industries’ seemed to be an issue worth exploring. It appears that the statistics showing that 92% of apprenticeship commencements in cabinet making are male and 96% of childcare workers are female was something to be concerned about, and rectifying this would see an improvement in the Status Quo. I doubt this is because either of these occupations are not accessible for a particular sex but are more about what people want to do.

Influences

A young person’s decision to undertake an apprenticeship is subject to a range of social influences. One study showed that young people in the lowest quartile of socioeconomic status were 4 times more likely to want to be technicians and trade workers. Does this indicate that if you are poor you are more likely to seek an apprenticeship? School leavers are also influenced by how schools present post-secondary choices to young people. Given that teachers are provided with only a small amount of time and resources to advise on vocational choices, leading them to provide limited advice on any but the most well-known trades; maybe government can start here?

Some studies suggest careers advisers and teachers promote apprenticeships and traineeships as a career option only for low-achieving students. For example, Misko et al. (2007) note that, ‘A lack of encouragement from teachers and counsellors can act as a potential barrier to greater interest in trade apprenticeships among school students.’ Categorising students by their perceived ability levels, the authors found that teachers were more likely to suggest to students that were ‘performing not so well or not so well at all’ to undertake trade apprenticeships.

So, apprenticeships are for dummies? Pardon the expression but in an age where cabinet manufacturers use high level CAD and CNC equipment in most enterprises, shouldn’t policy makers be aware of this? Way back in in 2004, Prime Minister John Howard spoke of Australia’s “Deep and unfortunate cultural prejudice against people going into traditional trades,” citing the nation’s obsession with “The relentless ideal of everybody who leaves school having to receive a university education.”

The Relevance of Trade Training

While a trade was once viewed as a noble profession, the fact, in my opinion is that young people no longer see a trade as an attractive vocation. We are in the ‘I want it now’ generation and three years at a low wage is no longer an appealing prospect. It is a fact that only 55% of apprentices actually complete their training, and 77% of people who seek help with workplace issues are apprentices. Maybe we should start right there and find out why these numbers are so high. A billion dollars may attract more young people but will 45% of those extra people also fail to complete? That sounds to me like $450 million wasted dollars!

In 2023 54% of employers said the skills taught was not relevant and 49% reported poor quality training. This is the result of the decline in TAFE where once a teacher had to take up teacher training but now TAFE colleges employ more sessional staff at lower overall costs to the college, but with no teaching skills and in many cases, poor trade skills. 34% of employers said they train to their own requirements and no wonder. Mr Albanese said his government, “Will ensure full employment, productivity growth and equal opportunities for women are central objectives of its economic and fiscal policy.” First though, government will need to decide what a woman actually is.

Do we have some answers that do not involve a billion dollars? First, get some of that money to careers counsellors so they can do their job properly. Second, make sure TAFE trainers are the best we can get, stop TAFE colleges from cost cutting when it comes to teacher quality. Third, an advertising campaign would go a long way to getting young people at least thinking about a trade occupation. And finally, if 45% of people abandon their apprenticeship as the figures suggest, maybe spending some of that billion dollars could identify why that is the case and put measures in place to reverse that trend.