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Skills Tasmania

Information on apprenticeships/traineeships for employers

1What is Group Training?

There are organisations that employ apprentices and trainees and place them with a host business for their employment and training. These organisations are called Group Training Organisations (GTOs).

GTOs operate across Tasmania and Australia, and some GTOs specialise in particular industries.

Is group training for my business?

If you are an employer looking at employing an apprentice or trainee, you may be considering whether group training would be beneficial for your business.

GTOs can be especially beneficial for businesses:

  • looking to find the right person for their business needs,
  • to help manage the training of their apprentices or trainees,
  • that may not want to commit to the management of an apprenticeship or traineeship,
  • that don't have the resources required to employ or support an apprentice or trainee themselves,  or
  • that cannot offer the comprehensive on the job training required for an apprenticeship or traineeship.

What the GTO will undertake for my business

As the employer of an apprentice or trainee, the Group Training Organisation will:

  • undertake the vetting and recruitment of an apprentice or trainee,
  • place the apprentice or trainee with an appropriate host business or businesses,
  • manage and monitor the arrangements with host businesses,
  • pay all wages and allowances, superannuation, leave, workers compensation, and employment benefits to the apprentice or trainee,
  • meet the employer obligations outlined in the Training Contract,
  • meet the employment requirements outlined in Guideline 2 of the TTAC Policies and Guidelines,
  • oversee and ensure the standard, progression and continuity of on and off the job training, and
  • provide the support required to assist in the completion of their training,
  • oversee the apprentice or trainee relationship so the employer can focus on their business.

Finding a GTO

To find a Group Training Organisation, you should:

2Employing an apprentice/trainee

Employing an apprentice or trainee can offer many benefits to your business. Incentives are available to help with costs. As potential employers of apprentices or trainees, it is important that you understand your obligations.

We’ve outlined some key things to consider to help your business thrive from hiring apprentices and trainees.

Benefits of employing an apprentice or trainee

There are many benefits to employing an apprentice or trainee. Many people who employ apprentices or trainees contribute positively to both the future of that individual as well as making a difference to their own business or industry.

Benefits of employing an apprentice or trainee include:

  • train staff your way, so they can positively contribute towards your business
  • contributing towards creating a future workforce in your industry (positive long term development)
  • mentor and contribute towards creating motivated workers
  • train future supervisors or mentors within your business
  • improve business reputation
  • tackle a skills shortage
  • as training is on the job, you can arrange it to suit your business needs, minimising disruption and maximising your business impact.

Costs and incentives

There are costs to employing apprentices or trainees. These include:

  • Wages - apprentices and trainee are generally initially not as productive as experienced or qualified employees. This is reflected in wage rates. Wages need to be paid according to the appropriate industrial arrangement
  • Training costs
  • Time spent training the apprentice or trainee
  • Other costs and entitlements, similar to qualified or new employees

However, there are a range of employer incentives available to help with costs. Visit Funding programs for employers and industry to find out more.

Your obligations

To ensure a productive relationship, it’s important to know your obligations when hiring apprentices or trainees.

Obligations will be outlined in your training contract. Key obligations include that you:

  • have appropriate employment arrangements
  • will follow the training plan (including undertaking any training and assessment activities)
  • let your Apprenticeship Network Provider (ANP) or Skills Tasmania know if issues or problems relating to the training contract occur.

Employer responsibilities and obligations are detailed under this page.

Other requirements

There are other requirements relating to employing apprentices and trainees. These include:

  • Following government policies relating to training contracts, which relate to:
    • administration of a training contract
    • entering into a training contract
    • once you are in a training contract
    • progressing through a training contract
    • ending a training contract.

These polices are detailed in Tasmanian Traineeships and Apprenticeships Committee (TTAC) Policies and Guidelines.

  • Ensuring adequate record keeping, including regular updating of the training plan
  • Deliver adequately supervised training, and release of the apprentice/trainee for paid off the job training, as per the training plan and industrial obligations.

3Setting up an apprenticeship/traineeship

Now that you have a person in mind as an apprentice or trainee, or you have the ball rolling on finding the right person, you will need to do the following to set up your apprenticeship or traineeship:

  • Agree on a qualification that will meet the apprentice’s or trainee's career goals and be suitable for your workplace
  • Sign into a training contract with the apprentice or trainee
  • Agree on a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) to deliver the training
  • Develop a training plan with the RTO and your apprentice or trainee.

Apprenticeship Network Providers (ANP), also referred to as Australian Apprenticeship Support Network providers (AASN), can assist you with this journey. See further information below.

Choosing a qualification and training provider

The qualification you choose for your apprentice or trainee to undertake must be approved to be undertaken as an apprenticeship and traineeship in Tasmania. Information on qualifications approved and funded in Tasmania can be found here.

Your choice may also depend on what training is available in your area too. The RTO that you want to deliver the training to your apprentice or trainee can also help you decide.

Your ANP can assist you in finding a RTO or you can find one yourself.

Signing up

You will need to contact an ANP to sign up if you haven’t already sought their assistance.

They will ask you to sign a training contract with the apprentice or trainee for a specified duration, to formalise your agreement to work and train together. A training contract is a legally binding document that details the roles and responsibilities of both you and your apprentice or trainee. If your apprentice or trainee is under 18 years of age, their parent or guardian must also sign the contract. You can find more information about the training contract here.

The ANP will assist with all aspects of the training contract sign up process, as well as provide information on the conditions you and your employer need to meet.

What happens now?

Once the training contract is signed, your chosen RTO will be asked to confirm they are available to provide the training and assessment services to your apprentice or trainee. Once this is confirmed, your ANP will then lodge your training contract with Skills Tasmania.

Skills Tasmania is the government department that administers all apprenticeships and traineeships and training contracts in Tasmania.

Skills Tasmania will validate the information contained in the training contract and, if correct and complete, the contract will be approved and registered. The training contract must be registered for the apprenticeship or traineeship to be activated. Congratulations, you can now commence your apprenticeship or traineeship.

Once the training contract is registered, the RTO will contact you and your apprentice or trainee to develop a detailed training plan. The training plan details what is expected of your apprentice or trainee in order to achieve the qualification by outlining what they will learn, where they will learn it, how they will be trained, and how and when they will be assessed. Further information on the training plan can be found here.

4Funding for employers and industry

There is funding available from the Tasmanian Government to reduce the cost of VET for employers and learners. RTOs wishing to access Tasmanian Government funding to provide subsidised training in Tasmania must be endorsed by Skills Tasmania. A list of Endorsed RTOs is available here.

Non-Endorsed RTOs can still deliver vocational education and training, however they cannot access Tasmanian Government funding to subsidise their training programs.

There are a range of sources of funding that can help pay for nationally recognised training for your staff, including apprenticeships and traineeships, other qualifications and skill sets.

The Australian Government also provides assistance through their Australian Apprenticeships Incentive System.

See here for more information on the funding for VET courses for your staff.

5What services are available to help me employ an apprentice or trainee?

You have decided that you want to employ an apprentice or trainee.  What’s next? If you already have someone in mind, that is great. You can begin to set up your apprenticeship or traineeship.

If not, here are some tips to get you on your way.

Tips to find an apprentice

Apprenticeship Network Providers (ANP) are available to provide advice and a range of services to employers regarding apprenticeships and traineeships. This includes helping you to find and recruit an apprentice or trainee.  Contact an ANP near you for more information on what they can do for you.

If you want to go your own way, there are a number of channels you can use to help find an apprentice or trainee.

  • Contact your local jobactive (or Jobs Services Australia) – a national network designed to find jobs for unemployed people.
  • Group Training Organisations (GTOs) – GTO’s employ apprentices and trainees and then hire them out to “host employers”. This is a good option if you don’t have enough work for the time duration needed to complete the qualification, you are unable to offer a diverse range of tasks, or you don’t want to deal with the administrative side of hiring a new employee.
  • Registered Training Organisations (RTOs), including TasTAFE – RTOs often provide pre-apprenticeship and traineeship programs in a range of industries. Students who complete these courses are potential candidates and RTOs may be able to put you in touch.
  • Schools – many offer school-based vocational programs and may be able to advertise your position. The Australian School-based Apprenticeships unit of the Department of Education can also help to facilitate finding a potential candidate.
  • Advertising on job websites or using a recruitment service.
  • Use your own leads and contacts. This could include recruiting someone you know, or someone who has been recommended to you.
  • Consider the suitability of existing employees for an apprenticeship. There are many benefits to training existing workers. Some of these include being able to train around the needs of your business, as well as increasing the knowledge and skills of the employee. See: Funding programs for employers and industry.

6Guidance for employers of apprentices/trainees

There are a range of services available to you with regard to employing an apprentice or trainee.

7I'm experiencing problems with my apprentice/trainee

Sorry to hear you are experiencing issues! Rest assured, there are a number of people that can provide advice and assistance to help you through issues with your apprentices and trainees.

If your concerns relate to your apprentice or trainee’s progress with their training, or the training and/or assessment services provided by your Registered Training Organisation (RTO), you should firstly talk to your RTO contact. This may be your trainer/assessor or the RTO's administration office. All RTOs must have a complaints process for their clients to use.

For other matters, you can contact your Apprenticeship Network Provider (ANP) who signed up your apprentice or trainee to discuss the issues.

If the ANP is unable to resolve the matter, Skills Tasmania offers a Workforce Training Consultancy service state-wide to assist employers and their apprentices and trainees. Our Workforce Training Consultants provide advice, assistance and guidance to apprentices, trainees and employers to help them through issues, and to explain the obligations of a training contract and the policies and guidelines of the Tasmanian Traineeships and Apprenticeships Committee (TTAC).