Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Australian Apprentices) Bill 2009, which is before the House. It was many years ago—some might say many, many years ago—that I signed up for an apprenticeship; I think it was back in 1982. Four years later, out I came, a qualified electrical mechanic. That was quite common at the time; a lot of people came out of school and did trades training. But it did not take long for that level to drop off. In fact, I was only into the second year of my apprenticeship, in 1983, when there was a fairly hefty downturn as a result of a recession. Not only did employers stop taking on apprentices but many apprentices already in the trade were either laid off or stood down indefinitely—which was pretty much the same as being laid off—or, in the case of the employer I worked for, the 40-odd apprentices were all put on what was politely termed ‘week on, week off’. The effect of that was that you only got to work one week out of every fortnight and therefore that is what you got paid for. As an incentive to get more apprentices in the trades, it did not work; as an incentive to keep apprentices on, it worked in one way. But the point is that back in the 1980s there were really no support mechanisms for apprentices in times of downturn.

I have believed for a long time, and it has been said by many, that apprentice rates in many industries are too low. That is compared to the wages that are on offer for the same type of people in casual or part-time industries. It can be said of a lot of industries that the first-year apprentice wage can be bettered by the wages for working in a local retail store. Of course, young people do not always realise at the time where the training will lead and where the opportunities will come from in the future, especially economically.

As I said, in the 1980s there was no additional support for apprentices and no special measures aimed at keeping them in the industry. There was no extra support from either the Commonwealth or state governments to top up their meagre wages or even provide any form of the support that we recognise is most needed and valuable these days.

In downturns, it is always tough. I came through the building industry, where when there is a boom on they cannot find enough workers and, when there is a bust on, workers cannot find a job. That is what happened in the 1980s, and it happened again in the 1990s. Fortunately, we have not got to that point in the current decade. But, when it did happen, there used to be some informal mechanisms, not through government but through employers. Occasionally, an employer that did have work would say, ‘Well, I’ll borrow some of your apprentices so that we can keep them in jobs.’ It used to be a bit of a gentleman’s agreement. That still goes on today in some ways, and those employers are to be congratulated for taking those sorts of steps. But what it led to—and it is still a problem these days—was many people who started trades apprenticeships not finishing them. It can be because of wages; it can be for lack of opportunity; it can be for lack of direction. It is frustrating.

I have watched many apprentices start and get through to their third or fourth year and then pack up and leave. That means all that time that they spent in training is no use to anyone—not to the apprentice, not to the employer and not to the industry. I have seen kids come in as apprentices and I have worked beside them for a couple of years, and they have then turned up one day, and said, ‘No, I’ve found a better job; I’m going to go work in the police force.’ I know of one who went and worked as a used car salesman instead of as an electrician. Certainly, I always scratched my head over it. I think I was one of the fortunate ones who saw the value of the trade then and still do now.

Some of them moved on to other careers in the Defence Force or went back to school or university—and good on them for that, but the loss of people to the trade back then was not addressed. A person who does not complete a training program in a trade cannot go back a decade later and pick up where they left off. Things change. The theoretical syllabus for most trades changes and the practical on-the-job work can change as well, and we have seen that happen a lot in recent years.

It was not just the apprentices leaving the trade in that time that was causing the drop in apprenticeship numbers; there was also a really big drop in the intake of apprentices. Especially in Victoria, that was a huge issue right through the 1980s and into the 1990s. One of the reasons—and it still hurts the skilled labour pool today—is that state government instrumentalities at the time were undergoing privatisation. Many of those were very large employers of apprentices—the state electricity commission, the waterworks, the railways, and the gas and fuel authorities. Between them they employed hundreds of apprentices every year. Usually when those apprentices completed their time they were released to private industry, helping fill some of the gaps there. At the same time that was happening, private industry also dropped its apprentice intake. In recent years we have seen great need in skill shortages areas, and a lot of that really does go back to those years.

That brings me to the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program, which is part of this bill. It provides incentives for apprentices. Some were already there but this makes it a whole lot easier. The Tools for Your Trade payment is currently made by a voucher system. I have looked at the voucher system—I got the forms and tried to follow it through on the web—and it was probably a good idea at the time, but it is difficult to follow. There are waiting periods and various other things that may dissuade an apprentice from joining a trade or may seem too hard for someone who is thinking about leaving.

The enhanced Tools for Your Trade program, which is included in the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program, will be available to more Australian apprentices and will reduce the burden of administration on employers. It will streamline three existing support payments—the Tools for Your Trade voucher, the apprenticeship wage top-up and the Commonwealth trade learning scholarship—into the one Tools for Your Trade payment under the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program. Australian apprentices in skill shortage trades will be eligible for the same level of support from the Commonwealth government regardless of age and the size of the employer.

The broader Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program comprises five cash payments over the period of an apprenticeship: $800 will be paid at the three-month point of the apprenticeship, a further $800 will be paid at both the 12- and 24-month points, $700 is paid at the 36-month point and another $700 is paid on completion. These payments total $3,800—a significant incentive for attracting people to, and retaining them in, trades training. These payments will be tax free and will help apprentices meet the cost of tools, books, protective clothing and fees.

Agricultural apprentices and trainees will also be included under this program, along with horticultural apprentices and trainees in rural and regional Australia. The new arrangements for eligibility will have the effect of increasing the number of Australian apprentices eligible for support under this program by up to 14,000 people annually. With the total estimated cost of this program being $670 million over four years, it will help attract and retain apprentices in the defined skill shortage occupations.

The second element of this bill is the introduction of the Skills for Sustainability for Australian Apprentices incentive, which will support training for apprentices in sustainability and environmentally sustainable work practices in selected national skills needs list occupations. These in many cases are new skills. These are not the sorts of skills that someone of my age would have learnt during trade training because the technologies and products were not there. The world changes and we and our tradespeople need to keep up. Apprentices being trained now especially need to be trained in the technologies of today and the technologies of the future.

The opportunities for training are already there in some cases, but training is not being done in a coordinated way. Various employers have seen a niche in the market and have jumped in early. I certainly congratulate them for what they do, but there does need to be a far wider and more systemic effort if we are going to have trained people available to do the work that will come up as we change our economy. As we head towards a lower carbon economy, we will need more people trained in sustainable jobs so that when we change—maybe when we change existing buildings or production processes—we have people who know how to do the job. It is too late when we get to that point to say, ‘Where are we going to find this workforce?’ That training needs to start as soon as possible.

An Australian apprentice on completing the required level of sustainability related training will be eligible for a payment of $1,000. This program, which is costed over four years at $20 million, will run as a pilot program within the Skills for the Carbon Challenge Initiative, which was an outcome of last year’s Australia 2020 Summit. These two payments are part of range of support programs that are, or will shortly be, available for Australian apprentices and their employers in these industries.

All up these investments represent a total of $5 billion in apprenticeship and related training funding over four years. They also include programs such as support for mid-career apprentices, which is available to selected trades and will be extended for those aged 30 and over down to those aged 25 and over. That also is a particularly good initiative. One of the problems with attracting people to apprenticeships—and it has been a longstanding issue—is age. Most apprenticeships, even though they are paid on year level of training, also have particular clauses in legislative instruments that say an apprentice over the age of 21 has to go onto adult rates. So, many people do actually make the decision some time later in their lives that they would like to get training in a trade but then, on going to find a suitable employer, find that quite often they are at the back of the queue because their age makes them more expensive to employ than a young person who has come straight out of a secondary school. That also holds us back. There does need to be easier entry for people of that age. There needs to be more support there. And there need to be more incentives so that we do get more people into these areas where we have ongoing skills shortages in many cases.

The investment also includes incentive payments of $4,000 that will be extended to employers of all diploma and advanced diploma apprentices and trainees. Again, there are a lot of areas that are not what are regarded as traditional trades but are certainly technical occupations. Many times they are bypassed when we talk about trades or when we go to the other end of the scale and talk about training through universities. These occupations in many cases are hands-on but also have a high level of knowledge and understanding that goes beyond what may be standard trade training. As a qualified tradesperson, I certainly welcome these initiatives aimed at increasing training in skills for Australia’s future, and I think every member of this House should. I think the more we can do that, the better. I commend this bill to the House.

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