Australia's apprenticeship numbers have been in sharp decline in recent years with a massive 22 per cent drop in the 2012/13 financial year.
During that period of time, state investment in Vocational Education and Training (VET) had been falling across the board.
A total of $1.56 billion was cut from state budgets during this time, according to the Federal Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, Karen Andrews.
Speaking at the VET policy forum in Melbourne this week, Andrews said the federal government will provide $3 billion for VET in the 2018/19 financial year.
This includes $1.8 billion provided to states and territories and $1.2 billion for the Commonwealth’s own programs, such as the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program.
“We can’t have a world-class system if we’re going to work in isolation,” she said.
“We have been working with states and territories to create an additional 300,000 apprenticeships and traineeships through $1.5 billion of funding under the Skilling Australians Fund over a five year period.”
In 2017-18, the Skilling Australians Fund supported an additional 50,000 commencements in apprenticeships and traineeships, pre-apprenticeships and other employment related training.
“This has been funded by the Commonwealth through projects worth almost $170 million in total,” Andrews said.
“To show just how committed this Government is to ensuring the success of the apprenticeship system we are funding the Australian Apprenticeships Support Network (AASN) up to $189 million annually.
“This Network provides advice and support services tailored to the needs of employers and apprentices throughout the apprenticeship lifecycle,” she said.
Andrews said nearly 80 per cent of VET graduates have a job soon after they complete training and graduates in full-time employment earn a median annual income of about $55,000.
After three years of operation, the Federal Government is looking to fine-tune the AASN via a national review.
A discussion paper was released last month and consultations are currently underway.