That ICPA (Aust) advocate to the Minister for Education to extend the Tertiary Access Payment (TAP)to include rural and remote students who must live away from home to complete a Trade Apprenticeship.
The current eligibility for the TAP is restricted to those who are studying Certificate IV or above and therefore excludes Certificate III Trade Apprentices.
Rural and Remote students who do not live near towns or centres must relocate to complete their Apprenticeships, with some also needing to purchase expensive tools. With a current oversupply of Tertiary Qualifications and a critical undersupply of Trade Qualifications, it is obvious that more support is needed for Apprentices.
The relocation costs to complete an apprenticeship are the same as a Tertiary student and the TAP would be an incentive to encourage rural and remote students to consider an apprenticeship or traineeship as a career path.
