When a well-built structure has stood the test of time, each generation inherits a valuable asset that is worth protecting and maintaining to keep it in optimal condition.
That is how we need to think and talk about apprenticeships.
You would be hard-pressed to find any Australian who doesn’t know someone who has completed an apprenticeship or traineeship. The structured work-based learning the apprenticeship system provides has endured because it works: learn by doing, earn while learning and develop real skills in real workplaces that translate into lifelong careers.
Employers value the system. More than eight in 10 employers surveyed by Australian Industry Group identify apprentices and trainees as important or very important to their business.
And the system delivers real benefits for individuals. When comparing all of the post-school pathways, by age 25, a person who has undertaken an apprenticeship or traineeship is most likely to be employed, is earning the most and has among the highest job satisfaction. The only other pathway that comes close is a postgraduate qualification.
If Australia is serious about priorities of increasing housing supply, managing the energy transition, local manufacturing and delivering the high quality services Australians expect, we cannot do it without a steady pipeline of skills.
In recent weeks we have been reminded of the importance of strengthening Australia’s sovereign industrial capability in globally uncertain times. But sovereign capability can only be strengthened if we also strengthen the skills and capability of the workforce that underpins it.
Skilled workers don’t just appear overnight. They are developed over multiple years, through systems that combine training with real work.
Yet while demand for these skills continues to grow, apprenticeship and traineeship commencements have been falling.
The latest national data shows that in the 12 months to September 2025, trade apprenticeship commencements were down almost 10%, while non-trade commencements (traineeships) were down just over 18%. This is the latest decline in a clear downward trend in commencements that has been underway for several years.
For industry, this is the canary in the coalmine. Today’s declining commencements are tomorrow’s severe skill shortages — shortages that risk slowing projects, raising costs and limiting productivity.
It tells us that urgent maintenance is required on the apprenticeship system. Like any type of maintenance, if we don’t act now, the issues are likely to be much more difficult and costly to fix in the years to come.
Employers are clear in their view that the foundations of the apprenticeship system remain strong. So what maintenance should be prioritised?
First, we need a laser focus on the economic reality of the system for employers.
There is a crucial truth that must be said plainly: without employers willing and able to employ apprentices, there are no apprenticeships.
Employers consistently report it is getting more costly and complex to engage with the system, at a time when Australia needs them to be employing apprentices and trainees more than ever. Financial incentives play an important role in offsetting the significant direct and indirect costs incurred by employers, and it is important that policy settings around these incentives are predictable enough to plan around.
Second, we need to recognise the value of work-based training pathways like apprenticeships and traineeships and ensure they are well supported within the skills and training system.
While institutional training pathways, such as through TAFEs, play an important role, there are real productivity benefits that come from integrating learning with work including through apprenticeships and traineeships. This extends beyond traditional trades into other key sectors like community services and early childhood. Governments need to recognise and support the value of these work-based training pathways across the economy.
Third, we need to value and promote the real benefits of apprenticeships and traineeships and the careers they lead to — for Australians of all ages. Too often, an apprenticeship is still seen as a second-class pathway, despite the mountain of evidence that shows the real benefits of these pathways for both those undertaking them and our economy more broadly. It’s a system worth backing.
Australia has an apprenticeship system we should be proud of, but pride alone won’t preserve it. Like any national asset, it requires care, investment and timely maintenance so we can hand the next generation a system that continues to build Australia’s future.
Report: Australia needs to turn around declining apprenticeship and traineeship commencements. Fast.
