The reason 50% of apprentices don’t finish
The apprenticeship system needs urgent reform to lift retention rates
IT’S been several years in the making, but a crucial test case to improve wages and conditions for apprentices will soon get underway.
The full bench of the Fair Work Commission will begin hearings into the review of wages and conditions for apprentices, trainees and juniors at the start of March.
But submissions from unions are due at the end of this month — just a week from now. If unions are successful, it would see substantial increases to the pay of hundreds of thousands of apprentices, and could be the first step towards stemming the disturbing apprentice drop out rate in Australia.
The case is being heard as part of the two-yearly review of the Modern Awards system which came into being in 2010.
Long and proud history
The apprenticeship system has a long history of providing young Australians with the vital combination of work and training to prepare them for a secure job and a career for life.
It means that Australia has a steady supply of skilled workers to meet the needs of industry.
In 2011 — the most recent year available — there were almost 211,000 apprentices in Australia, including 93,000 who began their training that year.
But the best estimate is that only 55% — barely half — of those who begin an apprenticeship actually finish it.
Unions have been calling for several years for comprehensive reform of the workplace situation for apprentices, and successfully convinced the Commission to include this in the Awards review.
ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver says a strong apprenticeship system is essential to give young people a pathway to a secure job, but in recent years Australia has faced a crisis of declining completion rates, with almost a third of trade apprentices dropping out in the first year.
Low wages are a major factor in this.
For example, a first year electrical apprentice will earn $288.37 a week under their Award, while an 18-year-old trainee at McDonald’s is earning $540 a week — a difference of $251.63.
A first year apprentice carpenter would get a base rate of $317.75 a week — boosted by some allowances — while a 20-year-old fast food worker on the junior Award rate would be on $599.49. That’s a difference of $281.74.
“On current award wage rates, apprentices are barely able to make ends meet,” says Oliver.
“First year apprentices in particular face considerable pressure in meeting their living expenses, forcing them to rely on family and friends for support.
“For many, the low wages are a disincentive to start with. If you were could earn $250 a week more at a fast food outlet, which would you choose?
“It’s even harder for the increasing number of older apprentices who no longer fit the traditional model of a 15 year old school leaver, living at home, with no previous skills or experience to call on, that the apprenticeship system was originally designed to cover.
“Fewer apprentices are beginning straight out of school. They are now generally older, are required to have their own car and phone, and bring a broader range of skills, qualifications and experience to the job.”
A fairer safety net for apprentices
The ACTU is putting the finishing touches to the submission, and a number of unions who represent large numbers of trade-based apprentices will also be making submissions in support of lifting training wages, as well as improving other conditions of employment for apprentices.
In essence, the union movement will be seeking to increase the minimum rate of pay of all first year or starting apprentices to $423.66 per week or $11.15 per hour. This is the same as 60% of what is commonly known as the tradesperson’s rate (currently $706.10 a week).
With a quarter of all apprentices now aged 25 and over, unions also want to ensure that all adult apprentices recive the adult minimum wage for their industry, and if they start an apprenticeship with their current employer they keep the rate they were on before starting the apprenticeship.
“It’s all about establishing a fairer safety net for apprentices that is relevant to today, not the situation that existed decades ago,” says Oliver.
Published on 27 January 2013.
