Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor warns, “one of the biggest issues for the sector is the poor completion rates for our apprentices and trainees”

Over ten years the completion rate for apprentices has fallen to 55.7 per cent, he told a business lunch in Melbourne yesterday.

“Low completion rates derail potential careers, they’re costly, and deprive the economy of much-needed skills. That is clearly not good enough,” he said, adding;

“we need to fix the leaks in the bucket before we turn the tap on harder.”

Mr O’Connor said the government “would explore options” with business, “ to drive up completion rates, and create more opportunities for training that delivers more secure, more rewarding jobs.”