Last week we brought you the story of the Prime Minister’s commitment to give construction apprentices $10,000 to solve the capacity crisis.

On the whole, the $626.9 million announcement was greeted favourably by the major building associations.

We wanted to find out more from those on the ground to see what’s needed to attract more apprentices to the industry and some of their answers may surprise you.

Duayne Pearce from D Pearce Constructions

“A big strain on our business is everything is dollar driven, clients want a good product for a good price and labour is just getting more and more expensive so we’re trying to get the job done as quick as we can, Mr Pearce said.

Ideally if we had some money to go towards offsetting what we have to pay our tradesmen so they can slow down a little bit and actually spend more quality time with the apprentices, that’s the big thing I’m seeing.

“We’re very big on that in our business where we are aware of it so we actually tell our team at a certain stage of the job that you need to slow down, you need to spend one on one time with them, and you need to educate, and you need to train them on what they need to do.

“I see so many trade businesses and building businesses that don’t have that mindset. It’s just go, go, go, so apprentices aren’t getting the actual onsite training they should be having.

Felicity Pettiford – 21 year old qualified carpenter and builder, 2024 Empowered Women In Trades (EWIT) – Tradie Lady of the Year 

“There’s a lack of support in industry of making sure there’s the right facilities, the right guidance materials and resources on site for them to be able to complete their apprenticeship,” Ms Pettiford said.

“We have a really high percentage of people completing their apprenticeship or walking out because they’re not getting a lot of support on site. 

“Everything surrounding the support network is needed to be improved to keep our apprentices in the industry.

“I also think the example of myself and other women in the industry is helping to attract more females into the industry by showing the industry is not as bad or as scary as it seems.

“I think for a female fresh from the classroom wanting to do work placement it can be very scary and intimidating so  breaking down that stigma, and encouraging more women in the industry would also help to get more apprentices.”

Amanda Bulow, Awesome Women in Construction

“Encourage female apprentices,” Ms Bulow said.

“Childcare is a large barrier to women becoming tradies or returning to work after they have had their family. 

We need to explain to them exactly what the job entails, not what they see on The Block!

“And providing them opportunities to become stronger and more resilient people and letting them know someone has their back. Someone they can call who gets it. This is one of the reason’s I started AWIC. A community of likeminded women.

 “There’s also a need for employer education, particularly with SME’s. 

“If we help them, they can help the next generation. Mentor the tradie who will then mentor the apprentice.” 

Fast Facts

• The number of people completing apprentices in Australia has stayed about the same over the past decade
• The problem is our population has increased by more than 13 per cent (23.8 million in 2015 to more than 27 million)
• Around 50 per cent of all apprentices do not complete their training

The Albanese Plan

• Apprentices, including bricklayers, carpenters, electricians, and plumbers, who are learning the ropes in residential construction will receive $10,000.
• This will include five separate payments of $2,000 over the course of their training.
• That’s in addition to the pay they’re already earning from their employers.
• In addition there will be a $77 per week boost to the allowance paid to apprentices who live away from home.
• The $626.9 million cost of the program is enough to cover 60,000 construction apprentices.