Key skills initiatives in the 2025-26 Victorian State Budget

Apprenticeships Victoria received $22.8 million over two years to continue to support apprentices, trainees and employers.

This funding will help deliver the Priority Apprenticeships Pathways model, helping people start apprenticeships in priority areas like housing construction, clean economy and advanced manufacturing through facilitating partnerships at a local level.

The funding will also ensure apprentice and trainee support through the Apprenticeships Support Officer program.

The State Budget allocated an additional $459 million to make sure Victorians have the right skills for the opportunities of the future, including:

• $171 million to meet training and skills demand, including providing up to 20,000 Victorians with the opportunity to develop new skills or retrain through Free TAFE.
• $121 million for the TAFE services fund, including asset maintenance and support for TAFE students to complete their studies and access job opportunities.
• $44 million will create 9,600 more student places in digital literacy and employability skills training at Learn Local providers, and 8,000 additional student places a year in literacy and numeracy programs at TAFEs, helping Victorians develop these foundational skills and find a job.
• $23 million to strengthen the apprenticeship system and help apprentices and trainees to complete their training.
• $18 million to pilot Aboriginal Community Controlled vocational education and training models, to improve completion rates and grow the First Nations VET workforce.
• $9.3 million to provide scholarships and more professional development opportunities for TAFE and Adult Education teachers, ensuring students gain access to high-quality training.

It comes as the Victorian Government outlined the importance of trades and skilled workers in the state, noting that skilled workers are in high demand in Victoria. Our housing, transport, and energy needs are creating demand for thousands more tradespeople.

• More than 40,000 apprentices in Victoria have gained their Trade Papers since 2019, with qualified trades including carpenters, electricians, chefs, car mechanics, hairdressers, and plumbers.
• Qualified tradies in Victoria are very employable, with almost 95 percent of people who completed training for a trade in 2023 finding a job after qualifying.
• Data also shows that more women are becoming qualified tradespeople. Women tradies completing their training increased by 10.1 percent between 2023 and 2024.

How we can help

Apprenticeship Support Australia (ASA) service is contracted by the Australian Government to aid apprentices, trainees, and employers with a range of support services in Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania. These include:

• Signing up apprentices and facilitating the national training contract.
• Mentoring apprentices to help them complete their training.
• Mentoring employers to help them build their capability and capacity to retain and complete apprentices.
• Assessing and administering the Apprenticeship Incentive program/system, as well as providing troubleshooting assistance to access the government claiming system.
• Specialized and enhanced services for women entering male-dominated trades.
• Career advice for job seekers.

Businesses and apprentices or trainees can contact our ASA team with any inquiries.