Stats reveal low apprenticeship completion rate

New data reveals that Australia’s apprenticeship completion rate is faltering at below 50%, with a sharp increase in withdrawals last year putting further pressure on apprentice numbers. According to a recent study by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), just 49.5% of apprenticeships and traineeships commenced in 2002 were completed within the following five years. Apprentices in food trades were the least likely to see their training through to completion, with only 31.1% of those who commenced in 2002 finishing their apprenticeship. Hairdressing, business and administration and intermediate-level sales apprentices also had well below-average completion rates. The relatively low completion indeed may have helped spur employers to employ more apprentices. Numbers of new apprenticeships and traineeships commenced has increased steadily each year, from 114,000 in 1997 to 276,000 in 2007.  However, the increase number of new apprentices has been more than matched by a faster rise in the number of withdrawals from training, from 44,000 in 1997 to 135,000 in 2007. Last year saw an especially significant spike, up 7%. Apprentice numbers are set to increase even further in coming years under a $2 billion Federal Government plan to create an additional 630,000 training places. The debate over another Labor industrial relations promise - to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) - has escalated with the release of figures indicating that labour productivity in the building industry has increased since the inception of the body in 2002. According to Econtech economic modelling commissioned by the ABCC, labour productivity in 2007 was 10.5% higher than it would have been if pre-2002 productivity trends had continued.
ABCC Commissioner John Lloyd says that “The report’s findings indicate that a greater respect for workplace relations laws has led to improved productivity.”
Labor promised prior to last year’s election that it would roll the ABCC’s functions into those of its planned general IR body, Fair Work Australia, in 2010. However, according to unions, the ABCC means building workers have fewer rights than others, and should be abolished immediately.