Labor will bolster will improve aprentiship wages and incentives, offering a wide-ranging package to keep the economy strong and to encourage apprentices to stick it out and get their qualifications.
Apprentice bricklayers, butchers, cabinetmakers, carpenters, cooks and those training in many other professions will be offered the payment on top of existing Tools For Your Trade payments.
With the new arrangements, they stand to gain a total of $5500, tax exempt, over the course of their training.
Under the Trades Apprentice Income Bonus Scheme, apprentices would receive an extra $200 at the end of each of their first two years, bringing each 12-month payment to $1000. At the end of the third year they would receive an extra $500 -- bringing the third-year payment to $1200.
The biggest boost would come on completion of the trade training, with $800 extra, bringing the completion bonus to $1500.
Apprentices also receive a separate $800 bonus, taking the total under the new scheme to $5500.
Research suggests that the income apprentices earn, particularly in the early years of an apprenticeship, is a contributing factor in poor rates of retention and completion.
About 28,000 apprentices are lost to their trade each year as a result of not completing their training.
An extra 50,000 apprentices are expected to start and complete their apprenticeship by 2014 as a result of this program.
About 200,000 trade apprentices including carpenters, bricklayers, motor mechanics and cabinetmakers will benefit from this initiative.
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