Statistics

Summary page

Statistics

Annual apprentice and trainee statistics 2006 - Summary

This publication presents an analysis of training activity undertaken by apprentices and trainees in Australia in the period from 1996 to 2006. An apprentice or trainee is a person undertaking vocational training through a contracted training arrangement.

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) publishes apprentice and trainee statistics on a quarterly basis. This publication provides some summary data and additional information on training rates, completion rates, training within the trades, training duration, and prior education.

Within the trades, rates of training (apprentices and trainees as a proportion of the number of individuals employed) have risen steadily since 1999.
3.8% of Australian workers were employed as an apprentice or trainee as of December 2006, twice the training rate of a decade earlier.
22.8% of non-trade commencements in 2006 were in Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) certificates I and II, compared with 77.1% in 1996.
28.4% of all trades apprentices and trainees completing higher-level qualifications (AQF certificate III and above) in 2006 completed their training in two years or less.
Rates of completion vary by occupation for those apprentices and trainees who started their training during 2001, from 70.9% for science, building and engineering professionals, to 34.3% for food trades.