Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased the member for Jagajaga asked about this matter, because we want to create an enormous amount of prestige about the Australian Apprenticeships system. We want to put this very clearly in the minds of parents and those who support young people as they make their choices about the further studies they might undertake and the training they might want to undertake. For most states, year 10 is the year where students make some decisions about taking on Australian school based apprenticeships in years 11 and 12, with employers taking them on as part-time employees and where their academic studies and training matches the overall requirements of advancing in the elementary parts of trades as well as, obviously, completing academic studies.

We want to create a very clear impression, particularly in the work that is being done through the Council of Australian Governments, that a credential gained in one state carries a weight of recognition across all states. It has been some 10 years since the government’s New Apprenticeships program was launched. We now know that we can have a truly national training system, given the agreement with the states and territories last year, which was recently re-endorsed just 10 days ago at the Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education.

What is in a name? Essentially, the short answer is that the name Australian Apprenticeships says it all. Obviously, our ambition is to get the word out about exactly what that means—to reinforce the decision making that parents and those who support young people help those young people make and to create an air of prestige about it.

I saw the figure of $24 million quoted in the paper as well. I am writing to the Prime Minister to put to him very clearly our ambition to spend an appropriate amount of money not just in this year but over the years ahead, so that the resources are there in an advertising sense and to underpin our clear ambition to create this sense of prestige. My point is that there is nothing in the budget that will reflect that $24 million. There is money that is appropriated, as there regularly is, for marketing exercises underpinning all of this department’s programs. I am seeking further assistance from the Prime Minister, which would be the appropriate way for a minister to do it, and I will wait until the Prime Minister writes back with his agreement to that particular request.

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