Queensland Apprenticeship Completions Buck National Trend

An increasing number of Queenslanders are completing an apprenticeship or traineeship, bucking a national trend that saw completions fall across the country.

Minister for Training and Skills Development Shannon Fentiman said data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) showed Queensland’s completions rose by 1.2 per cent in the 12 months to December 2018 compared to the previous year.

“Nationally the number of apprentices and trainees who completed their training in the same period fell by 5.5 per cent,” Ms Fentiman said.

“Queensland’s nation leading performance on apprentice and trainee completions comes hot on the heels of our recent nation leading performance for commencements during 2017 and 2018.

“While the latest quarterly report shows apprentice and trainee commencements were down across the nation, following national falls reflective of slowing economic conditions across the country, Queensland continued to punch above our weight with nearly 1 in 4 apprentice commencements in Australia happening in Queensland.

“The Queensland Government is continuing to support and promote the value of training to prepare more skilled and job-ready workers who can take up new opportunities in the workforce and drive our future economic growth.

“Through Back to Work, Skilling Queenslanders for Work, Free tafe for Year 12 graduates and other programs we are supporting thousands of people to pursue training pathways for new careers in a variety of industries.

“Already through Back To Work, more than 4,700 Queenslanders have been given a start as an apprentice or trainee.

“By encouraging more businesses and people to take up and complete apprenticeships and traineeships will bring long-term benefits for workers, employers and our communities.”

The NCVER’s ‘Australian vocational education and training statistics: apprentices and trainees 2018 — December quarter’ release is available from www.ncver.edu.au/

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