MBV welcomes Victorian Government’s major overhaul to improve support for State’s apprentices
Summary: Master Builders Victoria (MBV) has welcomed today’s announcement by the Victorian Government that it has accepted key recommendations of the Apprenticeship Taskforce to improve the health, safety and training of Victoria’s 77,000 apprentices.
The Government announced today that it had accepted all recommendations of the Apprenticeship Taskforce report – in full or in-principle – and launched a $9 million package to improve safety and mental health support for apprentices and trainees.
The Taskforce – comprising of representatives from industry, unions, and apprentices – met for six months before presenting its final recommendations to Government in April this year.
Master Builders Victoria was a member of the Taskforce and today CEO Michaela Lihou welcomed the Government’s positive acknowledgement of the recommendations which aim to provide more support for apprentices and their employers, and address the key issues including safety, harassment, training quality, and fairness at work.
“These are great first steps and important moves forward in attracting and retaining more apprentices into industries like building and construction, including women.”
“For example, in a digitised world, data sharing between regulators is a logical and sensible approach to simplifying access to vital information,” said Ms Lihou.
“We clearly need to establish better accounting and visibility, to effectively track apprentices’ journeys through the system, better understand completion rates and the issues which affect those rates, and ultimately be able to deliver better, tangible supports.”
“And the trial to establish a central helpdesk as a single point of contact for information, guidance, and case management of complaints across multiple authorities, again just makes good sense.”
The Taskforce found the lack of availability of qualified trade teachers also presented major challenges across many areas of Victoria’s apprenticeships and traineeships.
“We would welcome further discussions on the recommendation of how to create and promote a pipeline of quality teachers,” said Ms Lihou.
“Victorian Government forecasts suggest they will need an additional 2709 Vocational education teachers alone by 2026. We also know we will need possibly 17,000 plus new workers by 2026 and many of them will need training if we are to meet the ambitious Housing Statement targets.”
“So, this is definitely a great start, but still with some work to be done to deliver the complete package our apprentices and trainees deserve.”
Available for comment: Master Builders Victoria CEO Michaela Lihou.
Media enquiries: Leigh McClusky 0411 711 780 le***@mc*******.au
