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Living in the suburbs of Western Sydney, Zac thought getting an apprenticeship was the best way to learn a skill and land a secure job.
Key points:
- Businesses and unions have reached a consensus on tackling key issues around training and apprenticeships
- It will be raised at the Jobs and Skills Summit at the end of the week
- The government will be urged to lift wage subsidies for apprentices, then provide payments to workers and employers when training is complete
"I've always been good with electrical stuff," he said.
"I've always been tinkering with things and pulling things apart and putting them back together."
But after 18 months as an apprentice sparky, he gave it up because he could not afford to live on his measly wages.
"Seventeen dollars an hour — I think I was getting around $700 a week.
"I would almost be happy to go back if the pay was better and the working situation was better."
He then tried his luck at carpentry but again found the wages and the conditions were unsustainable.
"I had to move tons of asbestos and I wasn't warned. I wasn't paid extra. I wasn't given any safety clothes or anything like that," he said.
"I just had to do it and shut up, basically."
Zac's case is not unique — the completion rate for apprenticeships currently hovers around 55 per cent and has done so for a long time.
According to Dianne Dayhew, from the National Apprentice Employment Network, that is completely unacceptable.
"Apprentices, when they start work, they are vulnerable," she said.
"They're often straight from school, they're entering an adult world, and they need additional support."
The federal government will fulfil one of its election promises this week by holding a Jobs and Skills Summit aimed at tackling the national skills shortage.
On one issue, businesses and unions have already reached a consensus — something must be done about training and apprenticeships.
With a shortage of skilled workers, unions and business groups are urging the federal government to lift wage subsidies for apprentices and then provide payments to workers and employers when the training is completed.
TAFE cuts have taken a toll
Unions are in agreement that something needs to change.
The secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus, said, "apprentices are paid appallingly".
"We're not attracting people to do those jobs because they can't live on those wages," she said.
There's a joint push for a significant investment in vocational education and training.
"Investing in TAFE and VET is part of productivity," she said.
"It's part of how you become a more productive country, is investing in people so that they can use skills."
The federal president of the Australian Education Union, Correna Haythorpe, said it is clear that persistent cuts to TAFE have taken a toll.
"We've seen courses close or campuses shut down and TAFE teachers lose their jobs.
"That's had a direct impact on students who wish to undertake vocational education and indeed, has contributed to the skill shortages that Australia is now facing."
With over 100 representatives now expected to attend the Jobs and Skills Summit, it will be difficult for all the competing interests to be addressed in just two days.
But Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O'Connor said an early consensus on apprenticeships does make the government's job easier.
"There is no time to waste," he said.
"There is some significant reform that will take longer because it's structural and systemic, but there are also things we can do very quickly.
"And if you've got a common purpose amongst the stakeholders, then it is easier for government, and I'm confident that we'll see some very important outcomes arising out of the Jobs and Skills Summit this week."