The ETU was in Canberra this month with fantastic ETU members Ro and Jack.
Ro and Jack spoke to Federal MP’s about the critical importance of investing in skills and training, about what makes a good apprenticeship, the challenges apprentices face, and how Government can help to keep apprentices in our trades.
Per Capita Australia’s “Charged Up” report makes key recommendations to Government about how investing in the energy transition means needing to invest in electrical trades workers. The transition can only be delivered with good, well-paid, secure jobs. Electrical workers are the workers electrifying Australia.
Jack is a 4th year lift apprentice and ETU WA member, directly employed by a commercial lift company. He is based in Perth and works there and in the surrounding suburbs. Jack was told he would complete all the TAFE requirements for his apprenticeship by the end of his third year, but due to a lack of TAFE trainers and a bottleneck of students needing to complete their TAFE requirements, through absolutely no fault of his own Jack will need to go into a 5th year of an apprenticeship to complete all his training.
Ro is a 3rd year electrical trades apprentice working in construction and an ETU Qld member. Ro has had very positive experiences with her work teams. She started on a large apartment complex where she found a supportive culture, good job explanation from senior electricians and apprentices included in the work team.
However, her experience enrolling in training was not as smooth or welcoming and illustrates why completion rates are not where they could be across the trade. Ro was 11 months into her apprenticeship before she could even get an induction day for trade school. Ro was contacting her trade school regularly to try and get answers on why she had to wait so long. She was brushed off with the school saying they were ‘working on it’ or that they were processing the request but with no progress or outcomes or any confirmation on when she would start her training.
“Eventually they told me they don’t have enough teachers; this would have been roughly 6 months after starting my apprenticeship. I eventually enrolled in a private training where I had to pay for my classes upfront and then send receipts to my employer. But when I went to get my units reimbursed for 2023 they told me they could not repay me as I was behind where I was meant to be.”
Jack and Ro are hardworking apprentices who’ve done everything right, but they are being let down by the system.
They told their stories directly Federal MP’s and Senators and explained why implementing the recommendations from the Per Capita report is so important for the future of the electrical trades.
The Charged Up report from the Centre for New Industry at Per Capita Australia finds Australia’s energy transition will require 100,000 new skilled electrical workers by 2050.
Australia can train thousands of local electricians for secure, rewarding renewables jobs in an energy transition jobs boom, if we take key steps to avoid a skills shortage that would threaten emissions targets, new research has found.
This report comes at a crucial moment for Australia. While more people are starting apprenticeships, we need a robust strategy to build and maintain a skilled electrical workforce to deliver energy transition commitments.
The report finds nearly one in two electrical apprentices don’t finish training because of low wages, lack of mentorship and bullying. More training spots and more renewable energy professionals in classrooms, along with industry-led training and mentoring, can provide good, secure jobs to a bigger, more diverse workforce.
Congratulations to Ro and Jack for their fantastic leadership, advocacy and commitment. Union Power!
“We are on the cusp of a jobs boom in renewables, but we risk squandering it because we aren’t training enough electrical apprentices or creating secure, rewarding paths for skilled renewable energy workers. The government must act now to secure our energy future. The steps this report identifies are investments in Australia’s future industries, investments in the next generation of skilled trades, and investments in the future of energy regions.” – ETU National Secretary Michael Wright
You can read the full Per Capita Report HERE