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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-04-02 Daily Xml
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Training and Skills

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:21): I want to rise today to have a discussion in regard to training and skills. In particular, at the beginning of last weekend I attended the ATEC graduation and award ceremony for 2025, a ceremony that recognises those who have done their apprenticeship, traineeship or training with the ATEC organisation in South Australia. The awards recognise the best apprentice or trainee in their first, second, third or fourth year of the particular profession that they are undertaking.

The awards culminate in the overall apprentice of the year, named after Pat O'Reilly, the Pat O'Reilly Memorial Apprentice of the Year Award. It was split this year between two award winners, Mack Fielke and Bradley Duggin, who took home the award jointly. Both are trade professionals in their respective trades and have gone on to start their careers in the industry already. I want to thank Greg Bassani, the CE of that organisation, and Ian Curry, the chair, for inviting me along to be part of that award ceremony and to hear from the Skills Commissioner, Cam Baker, his view of where skills are at in South Australia at the current moment.

When we talk about the current moment, there are some concerning figures in regard to traineeship and apprenticeship numbers that are starting to emerge under this government. In particular, if you look at the figures in the most recent NCVER data that has come out in regard to apprentices and trainees, there are significant declines in commencements of those undertaking training and also in completions.

Commencements, concerningly, are down by 16.7 per cent. We have also had a dip of more than 8 per cent in those undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship. This is in regard to the September quarter for 2024. The more troubling aspect is that, in terms of in-training numbers, that is the fifth quarter in a row that has recorded a decline and the fourth quarter in a row that has shown double-digit declines of those undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia. Completions are worryingly down by more than 21 per cent.

So it is very clear at the current moment that the government is taking their eyes off the ball when it comes to traineeships and apprenticeships in South Australia. You only need to look back at historic numbers to see the work that was done under the former government in this space. In the April to June quarter of 2018, just under 16,000 were undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia. By the time we left office, in April to June 2022, the first quarter afterwards, that number peaked in South Australia at over 31,500 apprentices and trainees in training in South Australia.

Where are we now? At a substantial drop back down to just under 24,000 apprentices and trainees in training in South Australia. That is concerning to me. It is also concerning, I am sure, to many others in South Australia to see these sorts of numbers recorded. What is more troubling as well in the context of the housing crisis that we are in at the moment is the decline in those undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships in the construction industry, down from a peak in 2021-22 of over 2,500 across both of those years, down to 2,000 to the September quarter of this year.

There are other factors at play, of course, that would potentially provide correlation, but I do not think that there is a lack of coincidence that those significant numbers that were in the construction sector undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships also correlate with the years where we had the highest number of dwellings commenced in South Australia. More than 12,000 dwellings commenced in 2021; over 10,000 again in 2022. Last year, under this government, just under 8,400 dwellings commenced; on track this year at the three-quarter time equivalent, 6,642 dwellings commenced. There is a correlation there.

The Liberal opposition has a clear seven-point plan in terms of boosting apprenticeships and traineeships in South Australia and there is more detail to come in that regard.

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