The growth of apprenticeships, traineeships and new apprenticeships has been so rapid in the past five years that today some 2.1% of Australia’s working-age population are now employed in a new apprenticeship.

Australia now rates fourth in the world, just behind Switzerland, Germany and Austria in terms of coverage of the workforce by the apprenticeship system. Australia ranks well ahead of countries like Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America (table 2).

Australia is a world leader in terms of its coverage of adult apprentices.The dual systems of Switzerland, Germany and Austria all focus only on young people.