The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has applauded the announcement by the Federal Government that the Apprentice Kickstart Initiative will be extended to 30 April. Source: Timberbiz
“Widening the skills base in the residential building industry is essential, and the Government’s Apprentice Kickstart Initiative is an important incentive that has been assisting employers take on new apprentices,” said HIA’s chief executive industry policy and media representative Graham Wolfe.
“With this initiative going over the Christmas and New Year, which are traditionally slow times for the industry, Kickstart has undoubtedly pushed many employers over the line to employ an apprentice when they otherwise might not have done so.
“The residential building industry has been quite depressed over recent years, building substantially under the long term average number of dwellings per year,” he said.
“This has made it a lot harder for small businesses to afford to take on apprentices, so the commencement of Kickstart in December was welcomed.”
With more than 12,000 apprentices being employed since the program’s inception, the housing industry has recognised the value of further investment in the future careers of young Australians through Kickstart.
“Only the current flat state of the housing market in almost all regions of Australia has avoided the underlying skills shortages from being more conspicuous.
“When the industry returns to more normal levels of activity, the problem of a lack of trades will rear its head if we don’t continue to invest in programs such as this,” Wolfe said.
