The ACT opposition has seized on new figures which show the ACT's growth in apprenticeships and traineeships is the nation's slowest to argue for more investment in the sector.
The number of apprenticeship commencements grew by 8.8 per cent in the ACT to March, compared to a 28.5 per cent growth nationally, data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research this week revealed.
Opposition Leader Elizabeth said the ACT government's lack of funding in the skills and training sector had driven the ACT's lower growth.
"There has been a chronic underfunding of skills and training in the ACT and in this year's budget, there is no material commitment to improving and boosting skills and apprenticeships to deliver on infrastructure projects," Ms Lee said.
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The ACT budget, released earlier in October, included $2.2 million in additional funding this financial year for apprenticeships and traineeships through the Australian Apprenticeships and Skilled Capital programs.
An ACT spokesman has previously pointed to the territory's higher longer-term growth in apprenticeships and traineeships to explain the recent slower growth.
The number of apprentices in-training in the ACT grew by 15.2 per cent in the five years to 2020, compared to a national growth rate of 8.9 per cent.
The NCVER figures this week showed the ACT had seen a significant decline in trainee butchers, hairdressers and childcare workers since 2013, with falls above 40 per cent.
There were 25 trainee butchers in Canberra in December 2020, down from 47 in 2013.
