Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Training) Share this | Hansard source

In addition to the $1½ billion Skilling Australians Fund, we are thrilled to be delivering a $60 million industry specialised mentoring service. I acknowledge that this commitment towards mentoring and services to support apprentices is widespread and has been advocated by Senator Griff from the Nick Xenophon Team as well as other senators. It will engage key industry and VET stakeholders to provide around 47,000 apprentices with the intensive support they need. The policy aim is, of course, to increase retention rates in Australian apprentices, particularly during the critical first two years of training, which can help lift completions, focusing especially on industries that are restructuring or transitioning, such as the South Australian automotive industry—which, of course, is also benefiting from the $100 million automotive advanced manufacturing investment that my colleague Senator Sinodinos is helping to deliver.