Scott Morrison announces $365m plan to boost apprenticeships

A $365 million plan to subsidise apprentice wages will be announced in Tuesday’s budget, with the aim of boosting Australia’s pipeline of workers.

Scott Morrison has pledged to spend $365.3 million subsidising the wages of 35,000 new apprentices as part of Tuesday’s budget.

The plan to extend the successful Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements and Completing Apprenticeship Commencements programs, which have already helped 350,000 young people to join the workforce, comes as vocational training is shaping as a key battleground in this year’s election.

The Prime Minister said the government was boosting the pipeline of workers Australia will need for a stronger economy and a stronger future.

“These programs deliver certainty for business so they can go and hire another ­apprentice chef, another ­apprentice hairdresser, another apprentice plumber. It is about getting Australians skilled and into jobs right now,” he said.

“I’ve met trade apprentices across the country supported by these programs and we want to help even more Australians take advantage of the skills and jobs that come with learning a trade. Trades training shores up our skills pipeline, gets people into work, drives down unemployment, and gives busin­esses the confidence to keep on hiring.”

Apprentice hairdresser Jasmine Pinna works at the Stevie English Hair salon at Glebe. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Post-secondary school education is expected to feature prominently in this year’s election campaign, after Labor promised in January to spend $1.2 billion on 65,000 new university and TAFE places.

Under the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencement scheme, which 73,000 businesses have accessed, employers are given 12 months of wage subsidy support for apprentices.

It was due to end on March 31 but this will now be ­extended to the end of the ­financial year, at which point the apprentices will then be eligible for extended support through the Completing App­renticeship Commencements wage subsidy for the final two years of an apprenticeship.

Mr Morrison said learning a trade “doesn’t just give you skills for a job, it gives you the skills and opportunities for your future”.

“Out of a group of students studying trades I met just last week, more than half told me they were planning to one day open their own business, and they know they can do that because they’re learning skills that people need.”

Scott Morrison unveils a plaque at Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said support for the skills sector would help lock in Australia’s economic recovery by delivering opportunities for apprentices and certainty for businesses.

“The 2022-23 Budget will outline the government’s long-term economic plan to create more jobs,” the Treasurer said.

“Right now, there are more than 350,000 apprentices and trainees in training and a ­record 220,000 of these are trade apprentices. These investments are about making those numbers go even higher.

“Through the government’s plan to skill young Australians, there are 120,000 more young Australians in work compared to under the previous Labor government.”

Owner of Stevie English Hair at Glebe, Stevie English, employs five apprentices.

“It certainly allows us to employ more apprentices, which is particularly helpful as a small-business owner,” he said.

“The future of our industry relies on these young people, so we need to be able to keep them in work.”

Originally published as Scott Morrison announces $365m plan to boost apprenticeships