Key Points
- One in nine trade workers in Australia are apprentices or trainees; while one in 45 workers in all occupations works as an apprentice or trainee according to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research.
- In 2019 - 2020, almost 134,000 Australians began their apprenticeship or traineeship.
- Filipino-Australian Jerrymay Banks did her paid on-the-job training and formal study under an apprenticeship program to become a chef.
Being an apprentice or trainee
In Australia, an apprenticeship or traineeship is considered a great way to gain a qualification in various occupations.
An Australian Apprenticeship or commonly known as an apprenticeship or traineeship is a way to learn while you earn where it is a combination of paid on-the-job training and formal study.
According to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, as of June 2020, one in nine trade workers in Australia is an apprentice or trainee, while one in 45 workers in all occupations works as an apprentice or trainee.
Sourdough baker Jerrymay Banks is among many Australians who benefited from doing an apprenticeship to become a chef.
"When I finish High School, I didn't know what I was going to do. I just basically got a casual job and stayed at my casual job for years.
"It was where I met my husband and when we started living together, he asked me what I wanted to do as I can't work in a factory all my life," mum-of-two Jerrymay Banks shares.
"I said to him I wasn't really sure but I like cooking. So he suggested that I do an apprenticeship to become a chef. And so I did."
Earn while you learn
Jerrymay Banks did her four-year apprenticeship in Sydney.
"I basically did start with it [apprenticeship] when I was 19. I moved around in Sydney. I didn't want to stay in one place for my apprenticeship.
"I want to experience everything when it comes to being a chef. I just stayed for one year at each place for the four-year apprenticeship that I had."
Commercial Cookery, which Banks took for her apprenticeship, is just one of the most common apprenticeships undertaken by many Australians.
Among the common apprenticeships in Australia include mechanic, plumbing, commercial cookery, hairdressing along with over 500 occupations in a variety of qualification levels. Credit: Chevanon Photography (on Pexels)
According to the Australian Apprenticeship, any Australian or permanent resident can take an apprenticeship as long as they have finished high school and are of working age.
An apprenticeship gives you a chance to learn a new skill and get paid in more than 500 jobs.
'Live your dream'
Chef and now entrepreneur, Jerrymay Banks, says she's grateful that she was able to do an apprenticeship because it was a way for her to start a career and fulfil her dream.
"It was during my work experience at one resort in Central Coast that I realised that I wanted to have my own business, primarily baking sourdough.
"I basically fell in love with the way of making sourdough, the patience and the time it takes and the health benefits are what I was really impressed about it."
"It's always great to live your dream rather than live somebody else's dream. If you can afford it, do it. Live your own dream and make it happen."
As an Australian Apprentice, you may be eligible for financial and non-financial support from the Australian Government under the Australian Apprenticeships Incentive Systems and you meet all the primary eligibility requirements.
