NCVER

Description

This report presents data on apprenticeship and traineeship activity in Australia, including trends in commencements, completions and the number of apprentices and trainees in training.

Data are reported for both quarterly and 12-month periods, providing information on recent movements and longer-term trends. In-training data measure active training contracts at the end of the quarter, while commencements, recommencements, completions, cancellations and withdrawals measure activity during the reporting period.

Seasonal patterns affect apprenticeship and traineeship activity. Commencements are typically higher in the March quarter, while completions are generally higher in the December quarter.

Training activity is reported using a trade and non-trade classification based on occupation. This provides a consistent basis for national reporting, as the occupations approved for apprenticeship and traineeship contracts vary across jurisdictions.

The most recent data are estimates to account for reporting lags and may be revised as further information is received.

Additional data are available from DataBuilder, VOCSTATS, and by request to NCVER. Longer-term historical trends are available from the Apprentices and trainees 2026: 20-year time series – June quarter.

Key trends at a glance

In training numbers continue to decline, with a sharper fall in non-trade occupations

There were 279,800 apprentice and trainee contracts in training at 30 June 2026, 8.8% fewer than a year earlier. Around three-quarters were in trade occupations.

In-training contracts in trade occupations fell by 5.3%, while the decline in non-trade occupations was substantially greater at 18.1%.

Commencements rise in the trades, while non-trade commencements continue to decline

Trade commencements rose by 9.2% over the 12 months to June 2026, following increases in recent quarters.

Non-trade commencements continued to decline, offsetting the growth in trades and leaving overall commencements broadly unchanged.

The same pattern was evident in the June quarter, with trade commencements up 10.8% and non-trade commencements down 11.8% compared with a year earlier.

Trade completions rise, while non-trade completions continue to decline

Trade completions rose by 5.4% over the 12 months to June 2026, reaching their highest level since 2014.

As trade apprenticeships typically take several years to complete, current completions largely reflect commencements and training undertaken in earlier years. Recent changes in commencements will take time to flow through to completions.

Non-trade completions continued their decline and fell by 10.7% over the last 12 months.

Occupation trends

Growth in trade commencements concentrated in construction and electrotechnology

Over the 12 months to June 2026, trade commencements increased by 9.2%. Most of the growth occurred among Construction Trades Workers and Electrotechnology and Telecommunications Trades Workers, where commencements increased by around one-fifth.

Commencements were broadly stable among Automotive and Engineering Trades Workers, while declining among Engineering, ICT and Science Technicians and Food Trades Workers.

Growth was also evident in the latest quarter for several large trade occupations. Compared with the June quarter 2025, commencements increased by 44.4% for Electricians, 28.2% for Carpenters and Joiners and 21.6% for Plumbers, while decreasing by 28.0% for Agricultural, Medical and Science Technicians, 20.9% for Gardeners and 4.1% for Motor Mechanics.

Trade completion trends vary by occupation

Trade completions increased by 5.4% over the 12 months to June 2026, but trends varied across occupation groups. Completions increased among Construction Trades Workers, Automotive and Engineering Trades Workers, Electrotechnology and Telecommunications Trades Workers, and Food Trades Workers, while declining among other trade occupation groups.

By occupation, completions increased strongly for Electricians, Plumbers, Butchers and Smallgoods Makers, and Sheetmetal Workers, but decreased for Telecommunications Trades Workers, Hairdressers and ICT Support Technicians.

Non-trade activity continues to decline

Non-trade commencements fell by 8.3% over the 12 months to June 2026. While commencements increased in some occupations, including Welfare Support Workers, Drillers, Miners and Shot Firers, and Purchasing and Supply Logistics Clerks, the broader reduction in non-trade activity is evident with in-training numbers lower across every major occupation group than a year earlier.

The decline continued in the latest quarter, with non-trade commencements 11.8% lower than in the June quarter 2025. Commencements fell by 18.6% for Child Carers, 42.3% for Truck Drivers and 77.4% for Nursing Support and Personal Care Workers, while Drillers, Miners and Shot Firers increased by 37.0%.

Non-trade completions also fell, down 10.7% over the 12 months to June 2026, although outcomes varied by occupation. Completions increased for Child Carers, Aged and Disabled Carers and Livestock Farm Workers despite the overall decline.

State and territory trends

Trade commencements increase across jurisdictions, while non-trade commencements decline

The national growth in trade commencements was evident across most jurisdictions. Over the 12 months to June 2026, the strongest percentage growth was in Western Australia, followed by Queensland and South Australia.

In contrast, non-trade commencements declined in every state and territory, with the largest percentage falls in the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.

Trade commencements also increased nationally in the latest quarter, although results varied across jurisdictions. Compared with the June quarter 2025, growth was strongest in the Northern Territory and Victoria, while commencements were broadly stable in Queensland, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory.

Equity and participation

Trade growth offsets declines for some groups

Over the 12 months to June 2026, commencements increased for people with disability, people from language backgrounds other than English, and apprentices and trainees in regional and remote areas, driven by growth in trade commencements. Overall commencements declined for females and Indigenous apprentices and trainees as non-trade commencements fell.

Trade completions increased across all selected groups in the 12-months to June 2026, while non-trade completions declined. Indigenous apprentices and trainees were the only selected group to record an overall increase in completions, up 4.9%.

People with disability were the only selected group to record an increase in the number of apprentices and trainees in training, up 2.2% from a year earlier, driven by an 8.8% increase in trade contracts.

Employers and training providers

Commencement and completion trends vary across industries

The construction industry recorded the largest increase in commencements over the 12 months to June 2026, up 16.1%, while commencements also increased in Mining.

In contrast, commencements declined in several industries, with the largest falls in Health Care and Social Assistance and Accommodation.

Completion trends also varied across industries. Completions increased in Construction and Manufacturing, while Accommodation recorded the largest decline.

Commencement trends vary by provider and employer characteristics

Over the 12 months to June 2026, commencements increased among TAFE institutes and private-sector employers, with relatively strong growth among micro and small employers.

The increases reflected growth in trade commencements, while non-trade commencements declined across all provider, employer and employment categories.

Commencements also increased for existing workers and full-time apprentices and trainees.

Additional information

1. Unless stated otherwise, data are derived from the latest National Apprentice and Trainee Collection (no. 129, September 2026 estimates), using data to 30 June 2026, which is compiled under the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS) for Apprentice and Trainee Collection Specifications, Release 7.0, October 2015.

2. Due to the delay in time between an event (commencement, completion, etc.) occurring and the reporting of that event to NCVER, estimates are applied to the most recent figures. The estimation method involves weighting recently processed numbers based on average reporting lags. As estimates are revised for up to seven quarters, figures for the last two years may differ from those published in earlier or subsequent reports. The final counts are those submitted by jurisdictions. Further details on the methodology can be found in the Estimation of apprentice and trainee statistics technical paper.

3. The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia caused significant uncertainty for individuals, businesses, and governments. The resulting suspension of normal economic activities, combined with various government and economic interventions, has impacted apprentice and trainee numbers. Therefore, caution should be exercised when interpreting and comparing data from 2020 onwards.

4. In-training figures represent the number of apprenticeship and traineeship training contracts where the apprentice or trainee is actively training under the terms of their contract and has not completed, cancelled or withdrawn from their training, or had their training contract expired. The figure reflects the number of active contracts at a given point in time (at the end of the quarter), and therefore in-training figures cannot be cumulated over time. For this reason, quarterly comparisons are equivalent to 12-months ending comparisons as they both represent the changes as at 30 June from one year to the next.

5. All values are rounded to the nearest five, which may result in some values rounding to zero. As a result of rounding, numbers in the body of a table might not sum to the rounded totals.

6. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place using unrounded data.

7. Data are suppressed where no data are reported across the selected categories or period, while ‘n/a’ indicates that data are not reported for a specific value.

8. Totals include all contracts, including those with unknown status. As a result, figures presented in tables may not sum to the total where unknown data are not reported separately.

9. While the report is limited to data on contract commencements, recommencements, in-training, completions and cancellations/withdrawals, data on contract expiries and suspensions are available in VOCSTATS.

10. As the vocations approved for inclusion under an apprenticeship or traineeship training contract are not consistent across all jurisdictions, NCVER has adopted a Trade/Non-trade categorisation for the purpose of the National Apprentices and Trainees Collection with ‘Trades’ classified as all occupations listed under ANZSCO major group ‘3-Technicians and Trades workers’ and ‘Non-trades’, classified as all other major occupation groups 1-2 and 4-8. Occupations are classified using the ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2022 Australian Update.

SOURCE: National Centre for Vocational Education Research 2026, National Apprentice and Trainee collection no. 129, September 2026 estimates, NCVER, Adelaide.

Description

This publication provides data and insights on Australia’s government-funded vocational education and training (VET) sector, drawing on data reported to NCVER as at 30 June 2026.

The publication covers nationally recognised training funded by state and territory governments, including activity supported through Commonwealth government funding arrangements such as the National Skills Agreement.

Fee Free TAFE activity is included within scope but cannot currently be separately identified in the NCVER data. Information on the program is available from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.

Data are revised throughout the year as updated submissions are received from jurisdictions. Additional information, including on non-nationally recognised training, is available through Databuilder, VOCSTATS, and by request to NCVER.

Report

Students in nationally recognised training

In January to June 2026, 783,605 students (or 97.8% of all government-funded students) were enrolled in nationally recognised training in Australia, including:

• Nationally recognised programs, down 61,150 students (or 7.5%) to 755,840
• Locally developed programs, up 6,180 (or 17.4%) to 41,690
• Nationally recognised subject-only delivery, down 250 (or 2.3%) to 10,670

Figure 1 presents a time series of students enrolled in nationally recognised training, alongside the full annual cohort for comparison. Since 2016, the share of annual students first reported in the January to June quarter has generally been increasing, up 7.9 percentage points, to 79.0% in 2025.

Government-funded VET reflects the priorities set out in jurisdictional action plans, which detail how each jurisdiction will deliver on the priorities of the National Skills Plan, the National Skills Agreement, and local skills needs.

Within the eight states and territories 783,605 students undertook government-funded training between January to June 2026. This represents a decrease of 59,425 (7.0%) from the same period in 2025. Increases and decreases in student numbers may reflect changes in students commencing training, students still in training, or both; individual decisions and environmental factors can play a role in these movements.

Student numbers in most states and territories were lower in January to June 2026 than in the same period in 2025. However, the reverse is evident in South Australia (up 0.3% to 56,765), Western Australia (up 2.2% to 93,345) and the Australian Capital Territory (up 2.8% to 8,990) where student numbers increased.

TAFE institutes remained the largest provider type in January to June 2026, accounting for 438,435 students (56.0%), followed by private training providers with 260,515 students (33.2%) and other providers with 95,865 students (12.2%).

Compared with January to June 2025, student numbers declined across all provider types. The largest decrease was for private training providers, down 32,525 students (11.1%), followed by TAFE institutes, down 22,645 students (4.9%), and other providers, down 6,335 students (6.2%).

Provider types varied across states and territories. TAFE institutes accounted for the majority of students in most jurisdictions, while in Queensland most students are with private training providers. In contrast, other providers accounted for most students in the Northern Territory (72.2%), compared with 12.2% nationally - this reflects the use of dual sector providers.

Student priority cohorts

Student numbers declined across most priority cohorts in January to June 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. Most cohorts, however, recorded smaller proportional decreases than the overall decline of 7.0%. Students with a disability were the exception, increasing by 3,040 students (3.6%).

Students living in regional and remote areas recorded the largest decrease, down 20,220 students (6.9%), broadly in line with the overall decline. Indigenous student numbers also declined compared with January to June 2025 but remained higher than in the same period from 2021 to 2024.

Figure 4 shows the absolute and percentage changes in student numbers for selected priority cohorts in nationally recognised training compared with the selected comparison period.

Nationally recognised qualifications

Nationally recognised qualifications comprise training package qualifications and VET regulator accredited qualifications. Qualification enrolments include both new and continuing training activity.

Between January and June 2026, there were 777,140 enrolments in nationally recognised qualifications, consisting of 338,680 new commencements (43.6% of the total). Compared with the same period in 2025, qualification enrolments decreased by 67,945 (8.0%), while new commencements decreased by 29,880 (8.1%).

In every jurisdiction, qualification commencements accounted for less than 50% of qualification enrolments in January to June 2026. The Northern Territory had the highest proportion of commencements (48.7%), followed by Western Australia (47.4%). Tasmania had the lowest at 35.7%, while in Victoria it was 37.2%.

Figure 5 presents a time series of nationally recognised qualification enrolments and new commencements from January to June each year, alongside full-year qualification enrolments for comparison.

Qualification commencements

The following table reports on the top 10 qualifications based on commencements. As the supersession of training products is not accounted for, different versions of the same qualification may appear, or a qualification may see a spike in commencements because it had only recently been released.

Certificate III in Individual Support (CHC33021) recorded the highest number of commencements, with 16,565, followed by Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care (CHC30121), with 11,345 commencements. Despite remaining the two most commenced qualifications, both recorded lower commencement numbers than in January to June 2025.

Electrotechnology saw continued growth, with Certificate II in Electrotechnology (Career Start) (UEE22020), up from January to June 2025 by 685 commencements, and Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician (UEE30820), increasing by 565 commencements.

While care and support qualifications remained popular in January to June 2026, several key occupations saw lower commencements than in the same period in 2025. These included Aged and Disabled Carers (20,385 commencements, down by 3,560, or 14.9%), Nursing Support and Personal Care Workers (10,950, down by 765, or 6.5%), and Child Carers (20,910, down by 315, or 1.5%). In contrast, Welfare Support Workers grew to 20,425 commencements, up 865 or 4.4% from January to June 2025.

Patterns in qualification commencements by intended occupation varied across states and territories, reflecting regional differences in workforce demand. Commencements in qualifications for trade and technical occupations were prominent in several states, particularly qualifications supporting Electricians, Building and Plumbing Labourers, Carpenters and Joiners, and ICT Support Technicians. Nationally, commencements increased for Other Miscellaneous Labourers (up 1,070 or 7.7%) and Electricians (up 575 or 7.3%).

Description

This publication provides information on the distribution of Australian and state and territory government funding for vocational education and training (VET) in the 2025 calendar year.

States and territories provide VET service delivery to ensure local and national skill needs. The Australian Government prioritises national skills development and supports states and territories with VET service delivery by providing funding under intergovernmental funding arrangements.

The funding provided by governments is reported across five broad VET activities: VET delivery funding, employer assistance, student assistance, capital expenditure, and system administration and governance.

Funding expenditure may be greater or less than the total contributions provided each year due to additional requirements in the year and timing around funding payments. Further information on the National VET Funding Collection, including how the data are collected and reported is available in the explanation of the collection.

Report

Contributions and allocation

Governments’ contributions of funding

In 2025, total government funding provided through VET appropriations and VET intergovernmental funding arrangements was $10.1 billion, up 1.4% from 2024, due to increased state and territory government contributions.

In 2025, compared to 2024:

• state and territory governments’ share of total government funding increased to 51.8%, up $152.0 million to a total of $5.2 billion
• total Australian Government funding declined 0.3% to $4.9 billion.

Allocation of funding

Government contributions are allocated by jurisdiction with funding provided on a recurrent basis to cover the cost of the training system or as capital funding. Australian Government contributions are also distributed to state and territory governments through national agreements to support VET service delivery and national priority initiatives.

In 2025, funding by:

• recurrent and capital flows totalled $7.5 billion, an increase of $31.8 million (0.4%), consisting of:
  • Australian government funding of $2.3 billion, a decrease of $120.2 million
  • State and territory government funding of $5.2 billion, an increase of $152.0 million
• intergovernmental agreement flows totalled $2.5 billion, an increase of $103.4 million (4.3%).

Expenditure

Overall government expenditure in VET was $10.1 billion in 2025, increasing by 0.7% ($70.3 million) in nominal terms and declining by 1.4% in real terms¹ from 2024.

VET delivery expenditure increased by 2.5% ($165.0 million) in 2025, following increases of 11.9% in 2023 and 9.2% in 2024. In real terms, VET delivery expenditure was similar to 2024 levels and remained above those recorded in 2019. This funding category includes training subsidies and expenditure on national priorities such as TAFE Centres of Excellence.

System administration and governance expenditure increased to $1.0 billion in 2025, up $108.6 million (11.9%) from 2024. Since 2019, the proportion of total VET expenditure allocated to administration and governance increased from 8.6% to 10.2%, although trends varied across jurisdictions.

Expenditure by student and training attributes

Expenditure by student and training attributes captures spending for key groups within the VET sector. Reporting is either based on actual payments and/or modelled and estimated data. The following section reports on a selection of attributes; all attributes can be seen within the Government funding of VET 2025: data tables.

Some VET programs have broader objectives, making the expenditure difficult to categorise by a specific student or training attribute. Where this occurs the expenditure is reported as ‘not attributable’. These totals are important to consider when analysing the student or training category data as they include direct and indirect costs for training.

VET expenditure is grouped across five broad VET activities of VET delivery, employer assistance, student assistance, capital expenditure, and system administration and governance. The figures presented in this section include a legend to indicate the VET activities included in student or training data breakdown.

For further details, refer to the Government funding of VET 2025: explanatory notes — Expenditure by student and training attributes and jurisdiction notes and caveats.

Expenditure by apprenticeships status

Total government apprenticeship spending decreased by $208.8 million (6.7%) from 2024 to $2.9 billion, largely reflecting the reduction of employer incentives provided by the Australian Government.

Australian Government expenditure peaked at $3.9 billion in 2022 before declining to $1.3 billion in 2025.

State and territory expenditure directly attributed to apprenticeships has been steadily increasing since 2020, growing from $921.9 million to $1.6 billion.

Expenditure by provider type

In 2025, from the $7.3 billion spent on VET delivery and capital expenditure, payments to:

• public providers increased by $319.0 million (6.0%), from 2024, to $5.6 billion
• private providers decreased by $124.1 million (9.2%), from 2024, to $1.2 billion.

Expenditure by student Indigenous status

In 2025, from the $6.9 billion spent on VET delivery, spending on:

• Indigenous students increased by $4.9 million (1.3%) to $380.4 million
• non-Indigenous students increased by $92.1 million (2.3%) to $4.1 billion.

A significant proportion of VET delivery expenditure cannot be attributed by Indigenous status, this funding is costs associated with support programs, administration, operational funding and training funds provided under block funding arrangements.

Expenditure by training package

In 2025, by qualification enrolments, the top five training packages were Community Services, Construction, Plumbing & Services Integrated Framework, Business Services, Electrotechnology, Health.

Relative to 2024, three of these training packages were also in the top five for the largest absolute change in qualification enrolments: Community Services (down 29,425 or 11.1%), Business Services (down 29,335 or 28.7%), and Electrotechnology (up 5,040 or 7.3%). Consistent with increased activity, spending for Electrotechnology increased by $28.5 million (or 10.1%) from 2024.

Attributable spending by training package continues to be highest for the Community Services training package at $815.3 million, a decrease of $3.1 million (0.4%).

Expenditure by student disability status

In 2025, from the $6.9 billion spent on VET delivery, expenditure for:

• students with a disability increased by $65.2 million (17.9%) to $430.2 million
• students without a disability decreased by $102.3 million (2.8%) to $3.5 billion.

In 2025, Government-funded students and courses reported 116,705 students with a disability, an increase of 6,930 (or 6.3%) from 2024, which is consistent with the change in expenditure.

VET Student Loans

The Australian Government administers the VET loan programs, including the VET Student Loan program and the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans.

Payment provisions provided under the VET Student Loan program declined each year from 2017 to 2023, followed by two consecutive increases reaching $260.7 million in 2025.

Payments under the Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans program remained relatively stable from 2020, before declining by $17.7 million (8.7%) from 2024 to $185.3 million in 2025.

Description

This publication provides data and insights on the proportion of students who complete nationally recognised vocational education and training (VET) qualifications.

Rates are reported as observed or projected.

• Observed rates track results within four years among cohorts starting qualifications from 2016 to 2021.
• Projected rates estimate future completions for cohorts starting in 2022 and 2023 who may still be in training.

Completion rates vary across states and territories, training packages, training providers, occupations, and student groups. Many factors influence whether a qualification is completed, including job requirements, student intention and circumstances, training quality, timetable flexibility, learner support, economic conditions and policy settings¹.

Reasons for completion and non-completion are not in scope of this publication, but are collected by NCVER as part of the Student Outcome Survey (SOS). Outcomes from short courses and stand-alone subject enrolments, which make up more than half of total VET student activity (53.4%) for 2021, are also outside the scope of this publication².

Figures in this publication may be filtered by the state/territory of student residence as at commencement and/or qualification level of education where possible. Additional rate data are available in Databuilder, and by request to NCVER.

Report

Observed completion rates

Overall

The completion rate (after four years) for all nationally recognised qualifications commencing in 2021 was 48.9%, down from 49.5% for those commencing in 2020, but higher than the four years prior.

By state and territory, VET qualification completion rates have been increasing year on year for students in South Australia and Western Australia. Completion rates for students living in South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory are currently at their highest levels since NCVER’s current completion rate reporting coverage began in 2016.

Declines in completion rates were observed in Victoria, and to a lesser extent in New South Wales and Queensland. Completion rates for students commencing in 2021 were likely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and especially in Victoria where VET delivery was affected by multiple periods of lockdown and restrictions to on-site learning.

Completion rates vary by qualification level, and are typically higher for qualifications at higher levels. As in prior commencing years, the highest completion rate for 2021-commencing qualifications was 56.7% for diploma-level or higher qualifications, and lowest for Certificate I qualifications, at 41.3%.

Average completion rates can vary substantially for individual qualifications (Figure 2). Most qualifications achieve an average completion rate of between 40-70 per cent. Compared with the 2020 commencing cohort, a slightly smaller proportion of 2021 commenced qualifications achieved completion rates below 40%, while a slightly larger proportion achieved completion rates above 60%.

Funding sources

Completion rates varied depending on the source of funding³. The completion rate (after four years) for 2021-commencing qualifications that were:

• Government funded was 48.9% (a decrease of 0.6 percentage points from 2020),
• Domestic fee-for-service was 44.8% (a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from 2020), and
• International fee-for-service was 62.6% (an increase of 2.4 percentage points from 2020).

The majority (57.2%) of qualifications delivered under international fee-for-service funding are at a diploma level or higher, which tend to have higher completion rates irrespective of the funding type. Nonetheless, international fee-for-service funded qualifications achieved higher completion rates across virtually all levels of education.

Domestic fee-for-service funded qualifications are more common at the Certificate IV and above levels which have relatively high completion rates, however non-completed Certificate II and III training tends to bring the overall completion rate down within this funding category. Qualifications at the Certificate I and II level are disproportionately government funded, which also tend to have lower completion rates.

Demographic cohorts

Outcomes for learner cohorts often targeted by policy-makers were mixed among those commencing qualifications in 2021.

Regional and remote learners reached their highest completion rate since 2016 at 45.1%, with remote and very remote students now performing similarly to regional cohorts, noting that regional commencements have fallen in recent years. Indigenous learners achieved a completion rate of 37.6%, also their highest since 2016, although a gap of more than 11 percentage points remains compared with non-Indigenous learners.

Several cohorts continued to outperform average VET qualification completion rates, despite declines relative to the 2020 cohort. For example, females remained around 3 percentage points more likely than males to complete a qualification, while learners aged 25 and under continued to outperform those aged 45 and over.

The completion rate for unemployed learners commencing in 2021 was 43.3%, a decline of 2.6 percentage points from 2020. It is possible that part of this change within the unemployed group was due to historically strong labour markets in late 2021 encouraging VET students to move out of study and into jobs⁴.

Priority occupations

Since 2022, Jobs and Skills Australia has produced an annual Occupation Shortage List to highlight occupations where employers are having difficulty finding suitably skilled workers. Understanding outcomes for VET qualifications linked to occupations experiencing skills shortages helps show whether training is producing workers for jobs that are in demand, noting that the skills and capabilities gained through training may be sufficient for certain jobs (without necessarily completing). Shown below are results for some selected priority occupations at the two digit ANZSCO level.

In 2021, both commencements and completion rates increased for electrotechnology-related qualifications. Improvements in the number of learners and their outcomes particularly within the key Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician qualification may help address ongoing electrician shortages and support construction, infrastructure and energy projects across Australia⁵.

Improvements in commencements and completion rates for the 2021 cohort were also seen among qualifications linked to skilled animal, agricultural and horticultural workers (including farmers, horticultural workers, and animal carers), as well as health and welfare support workers (including enrolled nurses, disability support, and community care workers).

Training package

Most nationally recognised VET qualifications undertaken in Australia fall under a training package. Training packages specify the training and assessment required for qualifications, and are designed to reflect industry-defined skills frameworks. Across all levels of education, the (four year) completion rate was highest for the 2021 commencing cohort among those studying qualifications in the Health (HLT) and Sport, Fitness and Recreation (SIS) training packages.

The Construction, Plumbing & Services Integrated Framework (CPC) training package was among the largest improvements relative to 2020 both in terms of completion rates (up 3.6 percentage points) and commencements (up 16.8%). This training package includes several key trade apprenticeships qualifications, such as the Certificate III in Carpentry and Certificate III in Plumbing, required to address ongoing skills shortages in Australia’s building and construction workforce.

Completion rates of qualifications in the Resources and Infrastructure (RII) and Transport and Logistics (TLI) training packages have been persistently low, particularly among domestic fee-for-service funded Certificate II and III qualifications. This may be influenced by reporting activity against qualifications for which learners only ever intend to complete a single subject (or smaller group of subjects) for regulatory compliance or professional development purposes.

Major qualifications

Table 1 below presents the largest qualifications by commencing enrolments for 2021, with commencements and completion rates for both 2020 and 2021. Nationally, the foundation skills Certificate II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways qualification saw a substantial improvement in completion rates for 2021, led by secondary school-based enrolments in Queensland. Likewise, the Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care qualifications increased in both completion rates and commencements relative to the 2020 cohort, particularly in Victoria.

A noticeable decline in completion rates for the Certificate IV in Real Estate Practice, which meets a regulatory requirement for real estate licensing/registration in some jurisdictions, coincided with a 17% increase nationally in commencing enrolments in this qualification, compared with 2020. The Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, which is a requirement to deliver training and assessment within the VET sector itself, also saw completion rates decline overall, where declines especially in New South Wales were offset only slightly by improvements in South Australia, the Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory.