Survey exposes lack of support for electrical apprentices

Australia is facing a major training crisis, the Electrical Trades Union has reported, with a new survey revealing the soaring cost of living and a failing mentorship system are pushing electrical apprentices to the brink of quitting.

Electrical apprentice completion rates currently sit at just 52% — a figure that is far too low if Australia is to meet its international carbon emissions reduction commitments, the union said. The research exposes problems with Australian Apprenticeship Support Networks (AASNs), which spent nearly $330 million of taxpayers’ money in the 2020/21 financial year. Over the next four years, AASNs are slated to cost the budget almost $920 million.

The survey of 642 electrical apprentices, conducted by Essential Media for the Electrical Trades Union, showed more than 37% considered quitting their apprenticeship.

The top reason apprentices gave for thinking about termination was wages (17%) ahead of work culture (16%) and cost of living (14%). Low apprentice wages are having a major impact with one-third reporting their pay was not adequate to cover bare necessities such as food, travel and housing. The majority of apprentices spend between $50 and $99 on petrol each week, with 34% travelling more than 200 kilometres to and from work.

While AASNs are responsible for providing apprentices with mentoring and support, only 11% of apprentices surveyed said they received mentoring from their AASN provider. Half received no support whatsoever. Two-thirds of respondents were unsure who their AASN provider was. More than 88% of apprentices had not discussed electives with their AASN provider despite electives being integral in renewables training.

“These damning results paint a devastating picture of a broken system,” said Electrical Trades Union Acting National Secretary Michael Wright.

“With apprentices considering quitting in droves, urgent action is needed to arrest a looming skills crisis that could have shocking consequences for generations.

“The crisis is made worse by the abject failure of the Apprenticeship Support Network system. Mentoring is key to keeping apprentices in training, but taxpayers are down to spend more than $1.25 billion over five years for something that is simply not doing its job.”

The release of the survey comes as the ETU launches a major national advertising campaign across radio, print and television in the lead-up to the federal government’s Jobs and Skills Summit.

“We are highlighting the fact Australia will need tens of thousands of skilled electrical workers to connect renewables like solar, wind and batteries to our electricity grid,” Wright said.

“We need a Powering Australia skills plan to upskill our workforce and train the thousands of Australian workers with the right skills to meet the demand.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Thurtell