Trade Apprenticeships in the Australian Construction Industry

Abstract

This article describes long-run trends in construction industry annual apprenticeship intakes; identifies a range of factors influencing these trends and considers their implications for an adequate supply of skilled trades labour. During the latter 1990s there has been a significant reduction in construction industry apprentice intake, even though the real level of construction industry output and trades employment over this period exceeded previous levels.

The decline in apprenticeship training is due to a range of inter-related factors. These factors represent an intensification of those structural characteristics of the industry which traditionally have been an impediment to higher levels of vocational training within the industry. The paper also considers the public policy implications of these findings.