Hunter Valley Training Company (HVTC) has welcomed the Federal Government reforms to apprenticeships announced earlier this week (Tuesday December 6).
Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations, Senator Chris Evans announced a range of reforms including reduced red tape, a review of apprentice wages, and the national harmonisation of training.
CEO Robert Fuller said that these reforms would help to boost Australia’s poor apprenticeship completion rates, which are currently around 50%.
Mr Fuller said that a national apprenticeships system is long-overdue. He said while HVTC had far superior apprenticeship completion rates of 85%, he hoped national reform would encourage more employers to see the positives of bringing apprentices and trainees into their workforce.
“We particularly welcome the independent review of the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program and Fair Work Australia being given the go-ahead to begin a review of apprenticeship wages,” Mr Fuller said.
“Increased wages would help apprentice retention but we must be mindful of the added pressure this could place on host employers,” he said.
Mr Fuller said monitoring and support for apprentices and trainees; a shared responsibility for the success of the system; and implementing best practice systems is a sensible way forward to ensure Australia has the apprentices and trainees it will need to meet looming skills shortages.
“HVTC’s success is proof that the Group Training Organisation (GTO) model, with a dual focus on its apprentices and host employers, is an important part of the solution for reform.”
“Our apprenticeship system will only continue to improve if training goes beyond providing technical skills to include mentoring young people to help them adapt to the changing business world.”
The Government reform announcement was made in response to the recommendations made by an independent expert panel in its report titled ‘A shared responsibility: Apprenticeships for the 21st Century’ that was release in February this year.
HVTC has twelve offices throughout NSW and Queensland and this year celebrates 30 years of service. It is the largest GTO in Australia and currently employs more than 1,200 apprentices and trainees.