The increase in the number of people completing traineeships and apprenticeships in South Australia was nation-leading in 2023, latest figures show.
National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) data for the December quarter, released today, shows that in the year to December 2023 there were 7090 apprentice and trainee completions in South Australia. This was an increase of 14.3 per cent on the 6200 compared to December 2022.
It was the largest percentage increase nationally, with Queensland the only other jurisdiction to record an increase (4.7 per cent). Nationally, completion numbers declined by 0.6 per cent.
When compared to 31 December 2019, pre-COVID-19, total apprentice and trainee completion numbers in South Australia increased by 50.9 per cent.
This comes as South Australia continues its nation-leading work to lift completions in trades across the board by focusing on mentoring and wrap-around support for those in training.
Meanwhile, training commencements continue to remain strong and higher than pre-COVID in 2019 – the period NCVER highlights as a more comparable period. As NCVER highlights, apprenticeship and traineeship commencements across Australia have now returned to historical trends, following the bump seen during COVID when the Federal Government introduced wage subsidies.
Trade occupations – including automotive and engineering, construction, and telecommunications trades – recorded a steady rise between 2019 and 2023. Starts for construction trades workers rose by 43.5 per cent (from 900 to 1295) in South Australia over that time, and engineering, ICT and science technicians by 104.4 per cent (from 105 to 215).
South Australia continues to show strong growth in trade sectors as we build upon the biggest opportunities that state has ever seen, including the nationally significant AUKUS deal.
Overall commencement numbers in South Australia were up 6.0 per cent when compared to the pre-COVID total in December 2019. In trades, this is over 35 per cent higher.
The Malinauskas Labor Government has made significant investments in the skills sector, unlike anything the state has ever seen. These include the signing of the $2.3 billion National Skills Agreement (NSA), including Fee-Free TAFE, funding for five new regional skills centres and a boost in funding for training providers to address skills shortages.
As put by Blair Boyer
Increasing the skilled workforce to meet industry demand, both now and in the future, continues to be a key focus.
We've made considerable investments in the skills sector to support learners, training providers and industry.
With skills shortages across so many industry sectors impacting everyday Australians, we have a mandate to consider from every angle how to get more people who start training to finish – increasing completions is key.
It's critical that students continue their learning and gain their qualifications to make a contribution to the workforce. That's why it's important to improve completion rates, not just in South Australia, but across the country.
As put by South Australian Skills Commissioner Cameron Baker
I'm pleased to see the continued increase in the number of completions, especially in critical occupations for our State's economy such as in electrotechnology, engineering and ICT.
It's also pleasing to see that the numbers for trades in-training are almost 30 per cent higher than where they were in December 2020 when the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements program was announced.
There is plenty more work to do, but these critical trade pathways are very much heading in the right direction.
