The NSW Apprenticeship and Traineeship system is under review.
The review specifically focuses on the provisions of the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Act 2001.
The NSW Department of Industry stated on their website that “this (the review) is an opportunity to consider whether the provisions of the Apprenticeship and Traineeship Act 2001 are meeting the requirements of industry and are aligned with the Government’s efforts to secure the future NSW workforce and grow the economy.”
The review comes about a month after the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) released their September 2015 report on apprentices and trainees, which showed a decline in both the take-up and completion of apprenticeships and traineeships.
The NSW Department of Industry have released a consultation paper, which can be found here: https://www.training.nsw.gov.au/forms_documents/news/consultation_paper.pdf. The paper poses specific questions regarding key provisions within the legislation and are organised by theme. These themes include:
- Flexibility of training provisions
- Nature of the training contract
- Clarity of roles and responsibilities of parties to training contracts and plans
- Methods for recognising completion of ‘on the job’ training
- Handling of disputes, complaints, appeals and application of sanctions
- Adequacy of current arrangements for recognition of trade skills obtained overseas
- Appropriateness of the current Regulations
Public meetings about the review are being held across the state starting from next week.
Public submissions on the review can be emailed here: sts.vtu@industry.nsw.gov.au and are open until close of business on Monday 19 September 2016.