clapton. Interesting legal twist... I can't help but feel that whilst the thought is admirable, the concept will not make any difference in encouraging applicants into AME trades.
mootyman. Pre Vocational courses (Pre-Voc) are now mostly a thing of the past. The trend is into School based apprentices (SATS) which provides for one day per week (minimum 48 days per year) paid on the job training.
Living Away From Home Allowance was $77 per week but I think recently increased. It is small change, however legislation also requires an apprentice receive normal wages whilst attending block training. As an employer, we find various ways to assist apprentices attend block training, including accommodation assistance. They can't afford to party but certainly our apprentices survive.
Excluding wages paid under ITEA/AWA and EBAs, there would not be $0.30 cents per hour difference in apprentice Award wages across all trades.
There are two significant issues facing trade employers and Australia:
- The current national cancellation rate of apprentices during their indenture is 45% to 50%. It has been estimated that each cancellation costs Australia $25,000.
- There are insufficient applicants to fill apprentice vacancies.
Competency based training is in many cases, significantly reduces the traditional three to four year indenture period, although in some cases the quality of the resulting tradespeople could be questionable.
I manage a company which employs 380 apprentices across many trades, including 120 School based apprentices. At any time we have over fifty vacancies which we are unable to fill.