“That ICPA (Aust) requests the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations to extend the data collected on a commencing Australian Apprentices’ Training Plan (AATP) to identify those who relocate from rural and remote regions to engage in the trades training.”
Many rural and remote students undertake an Australian Apprenticeship without the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network (AASN), Employer or Registered Training Organisation (RTO) knowing they have relocated away from family and supports to engage in employment as a trainee or apprentice and Vocational Education and Training (VET).
Prior to an apprenticeship sign up, coordinated by the AASNs, all stakeholders contribute details and information that generate the training plan that is signed off on by all involved parties The signed plan is then submitted and registered with the relevant state training bodies. To add the apprentices’ home address as well as the residential address to the training plan, and to add a Relocation Required option, would allow all stakeholders to see the distance many employees/apprentices have relocated and may also still be travelling considerable distance for the relevant VET delivery.
On the current NSW Apprenticeship/Traineeship – Training Plans there are multiple address options for the Employer, and also for the Training Details (including mode of delivery and training address) but only one address format for the Apprentice requiring a Street Address and Suburb.
Once collected, the relocation data could be part of the financial and non-financial support process, for organisations who collate Apprenticeship data to inform policy and practices in the apprenticeship space. The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) could utilise the additional data to build a more informative profile on those who relocate to undertake an apprenticeship – our branch understands that they currently categorise apprentices as rural and remote through the data they do have which is the address of the employer.
