Australian printing industry calls for government assistance as apprentice numbers tumble

Printing Industries Association of Australia (PIAA) CEO Andrew Macaulay is advocating government assistance for a national system to halt the current slide in apprenticeships in the country, which has seen the numbers fall from 500,000 to 275,000 in the last five years.

PIAA CEO Andrew Macaulay is advocating government assistance for a national system to halt the current slide in apprenticeships in the country

Macaulay sees a new national system as the only way to rectify the situation.  ‘These are lost jobs and lost opportunities for young people and for our industries. Currently, apprenticeship skills, qualifications and time frames vary from state to state and territory to territory and businesses have to deal with eight different jurisdictions. This is costly, time consuming and frustrating.

‘To regain our international competitiveness and secure the jobs of today and tomorrow for our people, we need to act in a nationally coordinated way.’

The alarming apprenticeship figures have been identified by the first ever five-year productivity review by the Australian Productivity Commission. Its emphasis includes the current crisis in vocational training which Macaulay said aligns with what it observes in the printing, packaging and allied sectors. The commission is the Australian Government’s independent research and advisory body on a range of economic, social and environmental issues

‘We need a national campaign to promote apprenticeships to young people as an exciting path into a job and career. PIAA welcomes the Commission’s call for a new policy model.’

Henry Mendelson

  • Oceania correspondent