South Australia has again recorded strong growth in apprentices and trainees. The release of the latest national training stats for the September quarter 2019 show a 20.6 per cent increase in paid training commencements compared to the same period last year.
The figures also show nation leading commencement increases in female apprentices and trainees (21.9 per cent), apprentices and trainees in the 24 to 45 years age bracket (29.3 per cent), and mature-age apprentices and trainees (107.5 per cent).
The Apprentices and Trainees: September quarter 2019 release from the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research (NCVER) released today shows that after Labor's six years of decline in apprentice and trainee commencements, South Australia recorded an 11.4 per cent upturn over the year to 30 September, compared to a decline nationally.
Highlights for South Australia from the NCVER release include:
- Over the year to 30 September 2019, commencements increased by 11.4 per cent while nationally commencements declined by 1.3 per cent
- Against the national trend, apprentices and trainees in-training increased by 7.6 per cent compared to a year earlier – nationally, in-training declined by 0.5 per cent
- In the quarter ending 30 September 2019, commencements in SA increased by 20.6 per cent
"The Marshall Government's Skilling South Australia program is delivering jobs and career opportunities for South Australians – by meeting the skills needs of SA employers," Minister for Innovation and Skills David Pisoni said.
"South Australia is defying the national trend when it comes to paid trainee job commencements and numbers of paid in-training.
"These figures show that the Marshall Government's skills policy settings are getting more South Australians into jobs earning whilst learning.
"The flexibility of Skilling South Australia shows that the bespoke projects co-designed with industry deliver outcomes for businesses and employees. We have also been able to able to open up new vocational pathways into our new industries to support our transitioning economy.
"These new vocational pathways are aligned with the State Government's priority growth sectors, particularly the transition to the defence industry, hi-tech, space industry, and the health and medical industries."
