NCVER: Report 1
Overview of the Australian
apprenticeship and traineeship system
© Commonwealth Government, 2011
ISBN PDF 978-0-642-78007-2
ISBN RTF 978-0-642-78008-9
This work has been produced by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) on behalf of the Australian Government and state and territory governments with funding provided through the Australian Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Apart from any use permitted under the CopyrightAct 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced by any process without written permission of the Commonwealth.
The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government, state and territory governments or NCVER.
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January 2011
Contents
Tables and figures 5
Overview 7
History of the Australian apprenticeship and traineeship system
Introduction 10
Major steps in the evolution of apprenticeships and traineeships 11
Occupational trends in the last half century 14
Evolving philosophy and rationale 15
General education and apprenticeships and traineeships 16
Final comments 17
References 19
Characterisation of the Australian apprenticeship and traineeship
system
Introduction 22
Data Appendix 30
Prevocational courses
Introduction 45
Characterising prevocational programs 45
Numbers 47
The quality of pre-apprenticeships: Student and other views 48
Outcomes 49
Final comments 51
References 52
Government financial support
Introduction 54
Government support for disadvantaged apprentices and trainees 55
Delivery of the formal training to apprentices and trainees 56
Australian Government incentives paid to employers 56
Australian Government payments to apprentices and trainees 57
Income support payments for apprentices and trainees 58
State government incentives 58
Concluding comments 59
References 62
Appendix A 63
History of incentives under the Australian Apprenticeships
Incentives Program 63
Appendix B 66
State and territory incentives 66
New South Wales 66
Victoria 67
Queensland 68
Western Australia 69
South Australia 70
Tasmania 70
Northern Territory 70
Australian Capital Territory 71
Appendix C 72
Estimating the cost of formal training 72
Tables and figures
History of the Australian apprenticeship and traineeship system
Table 1: Phases in the evolution of Australian apprenticeships
and traineeships 12
Table 2: Apprenticeship and traineeship statistics, selected years 1963-2009 14
Table 3: Apprentice and trainee commencements, selected years to
30 June 2009 14
Table 4: Apprentice and trainee commencements by schooling, 1995 to 2009 16
Figure 1 Financial-year commencements in trade occupations, 1963–2009 15
Characterisation of the Australian apprenticeship and traineeship system
Table 1: A stylised characterisation of apprenticeships and traineeships 23
Table 2: Apprentices and trainees at school 26
Table 3: Percentage of apprentices and trainees with year 11 or lower, or a certificate I/II as highest education 28
Table A1: calendar-year commencements by selected characteristics,
1995-2009 31
Table A2a: commencements by occupation, sex and age group,
calendar-year 2009 32
Table A2b: commencements by occupation and selected characteristics, calendar-year 2009 35
Table A3: commencements by selected equity group indicators and last year of schooling, calendar-year 2009 38
Table A4: commencements by selected education characteristics, calendar-year 2009 41
Prevocational courses
Table 1 Course enrolments in eligible pre-apprenticeship courses by field of education and AQF qualification level, 2009 48
Table 2: Projected completion rates in the longer term (%) 50
Table 3: Estimated rates of completing courses in the longer term (%) 50
Government financial support
Table 1: Government financial support for apprenticeships and traineeships,
2009 ($ million) 55
Table 2: Proportion of apprentices and trainees in receipt of income support payments, by payment type 58
Table 3: Estimated cost of government support per apprentice and
trainee in 2008 and 2009 60
Overview
This report is the first of four prepared for the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Review Panel set up by the Australian Government. It is intended to provide a background to the other reports which focus on specific aspects of the apprenticeship and traineeship system in Australia.
The report is structured around four individual papers. Not surprisingly, the first is a history of apprenticeship and traineeships in Australia. It then provides a characterisation of apprentices and trainees—apprentices and trainees of today cover a much broader span of individuals than the common perception of an apprentice being a young man in blue overalls. While not strictly part of an apprenticeship or traineeship, prevocational training exists as a pathway into an apprenticeship or traineeship rather than for its own sake. It thus makes sense to consider them alongside the apprenticeship and traineeship system, which is what is done in the third paper. We finish off this introductory report with some estimates of the cost of the system to the government.
The first paper considers the origins, key evolutionary steps and their implications and the evolving philosophy and rationale of the apprentice and traineeship system. We also examine trends in the numbers and characteristics of both trade and non-trade apprentices and trainees from the early 1960s to the present. These data are mirrored by occupational trends over the last 50 years in a range of industries, including metal and vehicle, electrical, building, printing food and other trades. Of particular note have been the massive growths in formal non-trades training—mainly traineeships—off a zero base in the mid-1980s. Finally, we consider the changing role of apprenticeships and traineeships in supporting the general education of those undertaking them. This is a significant issue, given the diverse student demographic. This issue is picked up again in the third paper, which considers the role prevocational programs might play in fostering both key foundational skills and providing a pathway into apprentice and traineeships.
The second paper follows on from the historical perspective provided in the first paper and characterises the apprentices and trainees of today. Our characterisation is in terms of age, gender, whether the apprentice or trainee is full-time or part-time, and whether the person is a new entrant or an existing worker, and educational background. Based on this characterisation apprenticeship and traineeships can be sorted into a relatively small number of groups:
² traditional trades
² young part-time new entrants (e.g. food preparation assistants)
² older new entrants in low-skill level occupations (e.g. protective services)
² older existing workers, low-level skills (e.g. carers and aides)
² older existing workers, high-level skills (business, human resource and marketing).
The third paper looks at the characteristics, numbers, perceived quality and outcomes of prevocational programs. These programs are seen to have two key advantages: first, they allow potential apprentices to have a taste of an occupation or trade. Second, they act as a filtering or selection mechanism to assist employers. There is a general presumption that the ‘tasting’ and ‘filtering’ will lead to higher levels of satisfaction with, and improved retention in, any subsequent apprenticeship. The paper examines the extent to which this is, actually the case and finds that substantial proportions of apprentices and trainees have gone through a prevocational program (more in the trades) and that some programs achieve their aims but others do not. The paper also discusses the role of enabling programs in helping to address educational disadvantage and develop foundational skills. Thus, prevocational programs have a variety of roles and outcomes depending on the characteristics of their student demographic. The paper tentatively speculates on the characteristics of a good prevocational program, suggesting that their aims and market segment need to be clear, they need to be of some educational substance, their funding needs to be ‘fit for purpose’ and they need to provide an advantage to the individual (e.g. advanced standing in the apprenticeships or traineeship).
The final paper, on government support, considers both state and Australian Government funding for the formal, off-the-job component of apprenticeships and traineeships. This is the largest area of financial support, followed by Australian Government incentives and the underpinning administration. The varied forms that this government financial support takes (including the considerable variation among the states) and the rationale are discussed here. In particular the paper looks at contributions to the cost of delivery, incentives to employers and payments to apprentices and trainees. Those latter payments include contributions to tools of trade, income support and support to those who are disadvantaged. There is a variety of state-based incentives to both employers and apprentices and trainees, too. Those to employers include concessions or rebates on payroll tax or workers’ compensation premiums and targeted commencement and completion incentives. The incentives available to apprentices and trainees in some states include clothing and equipment allowances, concessions on the cost of car registration, and concession fares on public transport, accommodation and travel allowances for apprentices and trainees who must spend time away from home to undertake their off-the-job training, capped TAFE fees and cash payments for apprentices commencing in skills shortage occupations.
In total it is estimated that the annual cost is around $2.9 billion, or a little over $7000 per apprentice or trainee in training.
History of the Australian
apprenticeship and traineeship system
Brian Knight
Introduction
The canvas for the development of the apprenticeship and traineeship system in Australia is the 222 years since European settlement of Australia, with a particular focus on the years since the Second World War. Note that detailed statistics are generally only available for the last few decades (Knight & Cully 2007).
It is important to define apprenticeships and traineeships and to establish their scope. In contemporary Australia, an apprenticeship or traineeship is defined by:
² the existence of a regulated, employment-based training arrangement, and a registered legal training agreement (originally called an ‘indenture’, and more recently a ‘contract of training’)
² a commitment by the employer, the employee and a registered training organisation (RTO) to an agreed training program in a specified occupation, all of which are set out in the agreement
² an occupational training program that consists of a concurrent combination ofpaid employment and on-the-job training; andformal (usually off-the-job) training that leads to a recognised qualification
² training that is provided at an agreed level in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and to standards set down in the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF).
It should also be recognised that the term ‘apprenticeship’ has a generic meaning (Ray 2001, p.32). In this broader view, apprenticeships have much the same characteristics as noted above—they consist of a combination of employment, on-the-job training and formal training—but do not have a registered legal agreement. In Australia, some major occupations have used what was effectively an apprenticeship system but did not call the employees ‘apprentices’ because other legal arrangements applied, such as the training of hospital nurses before this was moved to the university sector (Karmel 1978).
The definition of Australian apprenticeships and traineeships also has an historical dimension, as the scope—occupations, industries, levels of training, and the characteristics of apprentices and trainees—can and do vary over time. Note that the Australian definition would not apply in the majority of other countries that have apprenticeships, as the formal and on-the-job training components are not usually concurrent; this subject is discussed in the second report.
The system of indentured, entry-level training for young people has existed in many countries for centuries (there is even evidence that it existed in the ancient world). During that time it has evolved to adapt to changing social, economic and labour market environments. However, the environment surrounding any apprenticeship system is actually very broad, as it includes culture and traditions, which are often very strong and can exert a major influence. This may account for the fact that apprenticeships and traineeships are predominantly associated with sub-professional occupations, although apprenticeships in surveying and pharmacy existed in Australia until the 1950s.
Australia’s apprenticeship system started before federation with the colonial and state-based apprenticeship systems imported from Britain. A young person, almost always a teenage boy, was indentured as an apprentice to a master craftsman to learn a trade or craft. The period of indenture could last for seven years or even longer, and the program could include the apprentice’s general education and personal development, particularly if he started in his early teens. There is also evidence that more progressive landowners provided an apprenticeship style of training to the convict labourers who were assigned to them (Crowley 1949), and Fitzpatrick (1965) provides a reminder that indentured labour systems can be cruelly binding and exploitative.
Since Australia’s federation, there has been a series of major developments that have led to the national system of apprenticeships and traineeships that exists today. There will undoubtedly be further evolution, resulting from the interaction between changes in the economy and the labour market on the one hand, and the governance and institutional arrangements for apprenticeships and traineeships on the other.
Most apprenticeships in Australia are associated with skilled trade and craft occupations, but the scope changes over time. Many of the occupations have become almost redundant as a result of technological change (for example, printers, typesetting, automotive bodybuilding and signwriting) or no longer exist in Australia (for example, trades specific to heavy shipbuilding and repair). Others have declined because the products they are associated with have declined in importance (for example, watchmakers, jewellers, saddlers and stonemasons). Except in highly specialised industries such as the Australian Defence Force, it is now rare to find the apprenticeship model applied in the professions; a generation ago cadetships, in accountancy and articled clerks training to be lawyers to nominate just two examples, were still a feature of the entry-level training landscape.
Contemporary ‘traineeships’ can be viewed as adaptations of apprenticeships, that allow the indentured training model to be applied in occupations and industries not covered by traditional apprenticeships. With traineeships, the skill level and duration are generally less than apprenticeships, although small and increasing numbers of traineeships at diploma level are emerging in some occupations and industries. In 2009 there were 4200 commencements at AQF diploma or advanced diploma level, in contrast to 600 in 2002. Commencements at AQF certificate IV level also increased substantially, from 20 400 in 2002 to 54 200 in 2009 (NCVER 2010, p.8).