Getting more people into construction apprenticeships is critical to tackling Australia's housing supply shortfall and delivering on our clean energy ambitions, and the Business Council strongly welcomes the Government's announcement today.
Business Council Chief Executive Bran Black said the $10,000 apprenticeship incentive would help attract more people to work in a trade.
"Getting more tradies into our workforce is critical to building more homes and helping to close our significant national housing supply shortfall, and so we strongly welcome this announcement," Mr Black said.
"These incentives are an important step towards addressing workforce challenges, however it's now time for government to help address employer side challenges."
Mr Black said the BCA's milestone report - It's time to say yes to housing - called for a number of policy changes to deliver on the Federal Government's target to build 1.2 million homes over five years, including action to address workforce shortages.
"There are many reasons for why we're not delivering as many homes as we need to right now, including significant cost increases and sluggish council approval timeframes, but occupational skills shortages is a major one.
"As businesses are the engine room for training new apprentices, it's critical that government works with industry to address the increasing cost of training tradies.
"I consistently hear from businesses that existing employer incentives don't go far enough, and so a new approach is needed to reflect the real cost of taking on a young trainee.
"The simple point is that business plays a vital role in training, and so it follows that if incentives aren't increased for employers, we'll see fewer employment opportunities offered, which will ultimately exacerbate our nation-wide skills gaps."
The BCA acknowledges the release of the Australian Apprenticeship Incentive Scheme (AAIS) Review final report and welcomes further engagement with the Federal Government on the design of a fit-for-purpose, value-for-money incentive scheme for employers.
"As one in three occupations across our economy presently report skills shortages, we don't have time to waste, and so it's crucial that government and all stakeholders commit to finalising new employer apprenticeship incentive scheme arrangements as a matter of urgency."
