The Victorian government has opened its first publicly-owned apprenticeship academy to build the workforce of the future.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan said the private training market is failing with not enough starts or completions, which is why the state government is stepping-in.
By 2040, the number of electricians working in Victoria’s energy sector must grow by 50 per cent.
“The State Electricity Commission (SEC) Apprenticeship Academy will offer 2,000 electrical trade apprenticeships over the next four years,” Allan said.
“These apprentices will earn while they learn and deliver the workforce needed to build Victoria’s future. And every single one of them will be employed by the SEC.”
The SEC will become the largest employer of electrical apprentices in the state.
Allan said there was a time when apprenticeships represented job, security.
“But now, getting a start on a worksite is something most individual apprentices have to find themselves,” Allan said.
“Young people are forced to navigate their own way from site to site, job to job, without job security at the end.
“That’s why more and more young people aren’t completing their apprenticeships.
By attending the SEC Apprenticeship Academy, apprentices won’t just study together – they’ll work together.
“Instead of being left on their own, the Academy will place the apprentices on a wide range of energy projects.”
Students will have access to world-class training facilities – one in Melbourne and one in regional Victoria.
The first full intake for the Academy will begin in January 2027.
The Victorian government’s Energy Jobs Plan shows energy jobs will grow by 50 per cent to around 68,000 by 2040.
Around 37 per cent of these jobs will be in the regions.
“If we don’t train these workers here, investment will fall, projects will stall, and bills will rise,” she said.
Minister for the State Electricity Commission Lily D’Ambrosio said the SEC will support a new generation of young people.
“We can’t let the apprenticeship pipeline become a pipedream,” D’Ambrosio said.