“Last nights budget announcements for Vocational Education and Training reaffirmed the importance of Group Training in solving national skill shortages, particularly in the traditional trades,”
Jim Barron CEO of Group Training Australia (GTA) Ltd, said today.

In his budget speech the treasurer singled out two specific Group Training initiatives.

First is the creation of an additional 4,500 pre-vocational places for people interested in a career in the trades . The second was a further 7,000 School-Based New Apprenticeships.

“The successful implementation of these two policies will create a solid platform for skills formation and contribute significantly to solving skill shortages.”

As the national association representing a network of over 150 Group Training Organisations, employing over 40,000 apprentices and trainees, GTA is well placed to be a central player in managing a nationwide response to skill shortage.

The budget announcements reaffirmed the Governments intention to deliver a sound response to national skill shortages.

“While these budget announcements are very welcome, it is obvious that more needs to be done to address this issue. There are still serious impediments such as the costs of workers compensation and wage disincentives to increasing the number of older workers, including those on disability support, willing to retrain in a traditional trade. The potential of these workers needs to be harnessed if we are to make further inroads into the problem of skill shortages”

“We also need a change of attitude in our schools and communities towards the value of a career in the traditional trades, and we need Australian business to adopt a genuine training culture.”