Doorstop Interview, Melbourne
ASHLEIGH DALMAU, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, MASTER PLUMBERS: Good morning, everyone. Happy first day of summer and thank you so much for joining us here today. My name is Ashleigh Dalmau, CEO of Master Plumbers, and on behalf of my colleagues, Shayne La Combre CEO of the Plumbing Industry Climate Action Centre, we welcome you here today to see some of our apprentices going through their registration journey. Plumbing Apprenticeships Victoria is proud to be hosting you today, Minister, and on behalf of the entire industry and our colleagues at the PPTEU as well we welcome you. We're so incredibly proud of this facility and what it does for young men and women coming through, doing their apprenticeships, coming through and doing post-trade learning. It's something we're incredibly proud of and it's our absolute joy to share it with you today. So if I can please ask you to welcome Minister Andrew Giles to say a few words.
ANDREW GILES, MINISTER FOR SKILLS AND TRAINING: Thanks very much Ashleigh, as you said it’s the first day of summer, but we've had a weekend where many Victorians have reflected on the importance of plumbing and probably there's a bit of work being done around the state now. I want to begin my remarks by recognising we're on the lands of the Wurundjeri people and pay my respect to elders past, present and emerging, extending those respects to any First Nations people who are with us today. It really is great to be here at Plumbing Apprenticeships Victoria. So thank you Ashleigh and Shayne, and everyone here from PICAC and obviously representing the union as well and other stakeholders.
What we’ve been doing so often is hearing from apprentices who are benefiting right now from the Key Apprenticeship Program and the $10,000 payment that comes with it, because we recognise more broadly that if we are to deliver our Government's agenda across housing and of course net zero too, we need a fit for purpose apprenticeship system and a fit for purpose incentive system to go with it. The most recent data we have tells us that there are more apprentices in training now than compared to the former government and critically, this also includes more in construction. That's because employers and apprentices alike know that the Albanese Government is backing them, they know that we want Australians to get the skills they want so we can all have the jobs that we need done. And that's why under the Key Apprenticeship Program we are paying $10,000 to apprentices in key areas. Cost of living relief for housing construction and new energy apprentices – carpenters, electricians and plumbers of course too – as they build a career and prepare to play their part in building our nation.
We also recognise that an apprentice can't be successful without an employer who backs them, and that's why today I'm announcing a 12-month extension to the Australian apprenticeship incentive payment settings, seeing employers who take on an apprentice under the Key Apprenticeship Program receive a $5,000 incentive. This takes the Albanese Government’s investment into apprenticeships under the program to $15,000 per apprentice. That’s more than triple pre-Covid era support. Jobs and Skills Australia is projecting that we'll need 32,000 additional electricians by 2030 and 130,000 more construction workers if we are to meet our housing targets. So this is a measure that directly supports building that workforce pipeline, as does of course our ongoing investment in Free TAFE which is now seen 725,000 enrolments and more than 210,000 completions.
There have also been more than 20,000 apprenticeship commencements under that incentive program, including 6,600 housing construction apprentices in just the first four months of this part of the program. These are payments which are front loaded so we can help apprentices stay in training when wages are the lowest, addressing one of the biggest challenges we face which are first-year cancellations. What we saw from the New Energy Apprenticeship Program is really encouraging in that regard. 85 per cent retention at the end of their first year. This is a great result. It's one that we are determined to keep on backing, that's why this support is so important to keep up the numbers of more apprentices entering these two critical sectors, building more homes for Australia and taking up all of the opportunities of the net zero renewable future.
Now, for all the other priority areas that aren’t included in the Key Apprenticeship Program, in 2026 we will provide $2,500 in incentives for the employer and the apprentice alike. And I note too that there is further support available for apprentices including Apprenticeship Support Loans of up to $25,000, as well as the Living Away From Home Allowance for people who need to move to follow their opportunity and build their career. This is an approach which aligns with the recommendations of the Strategic Review by Iain Ross and Lisa Paul, to ensure that our investment is targeted to those sectors that underpin Australia's economic and social priorities.
And I can say that this stands in very stark contrast to the approach of the Coalition, who after a decade of drift while they were in government failed to turn around skill shortages and let them grow to the worst in half a century, who also baked in a cut to apprenticeship incentives. A step down that would have seen apprenticeship incentives drop last year had our Government not intervened not once, but twice to extend those supports. Now the Coalition under Sussan Ley seems completely at odds with themselves over how they would respond to the skills crisis. On the one hand, the Leader and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition talk about spending restraint, which to be honest I think every Australian understands means cuts. On the other hand the Shadow Skills Minister Scott Buchholz talks about a return to the apprenticeship incentives of the former government. His calls to reinstate those incentives would amount to $7 billion, $7 billion of untargeted and uncapped traineeship funds through a return to the infamous BAC and CAC programs. So I ask the Coalition, do they want cuts or do they want excessive spending on a program that failed to build the pipeline of the workers that we need to meet our national goals?
Fundamentally, government is about making decisions and that includes making hard decisions, ensuring that we respect the trust that's placed in us by Australians to be responsible economic managers. I'm confident today that we have made the right decision, recognising that it is a hard decision. We've struck the right balance as we look ahead to further apprenticeship reform in the coming year. Thank you very much for having me here today.
ENDS