The Strategic Review of the Australian Apprenticeship Incentive System is investigating the support available to help more people start and complete apprenticeships and traineeships.
On this page:
About the review
The Australian Government is undertaking a review of the Australian Apprenticeship Incentive System (Incentive System).
The Incentive System provides financial support to apprentices, trainees and employers working in priority industries. It is intended to encourage people to start an apprenticeship or traineeship and see it through to completion. This is to ensure Australia has workers with the trade and technical skills needed by industry, providing a secure, well-paid work and career advancement.
Apprenticeship completion rates have been in steady decline over several years. The review is looking into how support can best be placed to increase the completion rate.
Background Paper
The Background Paper summarises the key challenges facing apprenticeships. It is a research document, detailing key evidence and data. It is accompanied by the Provisional Reference List, which is a bibliography of the reviews, research papers, reports and other resources the Strategic Review has considered to date.
Consultations
Written submissions for the Strategic Review closed on Wednesday 15 May 2024. Thank you to those who provided a written submission. Your insights and ideas are invaluable to the Review’s work. All public and anonymous submissions are available on our consultation hub.
What the review will look at
- How the Incentive System and complementary services are performing in helping the take up and completion of apprenticeships and traineeships.
- The effect that cost-of-living pressures is having on apprentices and trainees.
- How the Apprenticeships System can best support high quality apprenticeships and traineeships, including the roles of government support, workplace conditions and culture, and employers.
- If the current system is creating a training environment encouraging women, First Nations people, people with disability and people in regional, rural and remote communities into apprenticeships and traineeships.
- How the Incentive System can be aligned with the priorities in the 2023 Employment White Paper and the Australian Government’s broader economic objectives.
Leading the review
The Minister for Skills and Training, the Hon Brendan O’Connor MP, has appointed Justice Iain Ross AO and Ms Lisa Paul AO PSM as the reviewers.
Justice Iain Ross AO served as a judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 2012 to 2022, as well as President of the Australian Fair Work Commission (formerly Fair Work Australia) during the same period.
Before his appointment to the Federal Court, he was a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. Iain was previously an Assistant Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Vice President of the former Australian Industrial Relations Commission, Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission, Chair of the Council of Australasian Tribunals, inaugural Chair of the Mediator Standards Board, a Judge of the County Court of Victoria, and partner of Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2005. Iain holds a Bachelor of Economics, a Bachelor of Laws, a Master of Laws, a Doctor of Philosophy in Law and a Master of Business Administration.
At the National Manufacturing Forum, Dr Ross delivered a speech about the challenges of the apprenticeship system.
Lisa Paul AO PSM is a former senior Australian public servant and policymaker.
Lisa was appointed as Chancellor of the University of Canberra in January 2024. Lisa was the Secretary of the Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations from 2007 to 2013 and Secretary of the Department of Education and Training from 2014 to 2016. Since these appointments, Lisa has joined various boards of listed and unlisted companies including chairing Headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, and the role of Director of Social Ventures Australia, and Schools Plus.
Lisa co-chaired the 2023 Independent Review Panel for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Lisa was awarded a Public Service Medal for her work coordinating the Commonwealth’s domestic response to the Bali bombings. In 2011, Lisa was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the public sector leadership in key policy and program implementation.
Lisa is an Alma mater of the Australian National University, where she holds a Bachelor of Arts.
Photo of Lisa Paul AO PSM taken by Tyler Cherry, University of Canberra