Taxpayer-funded apprentice mentors are failing to protect trainee electricians, leaving them vulnerable to electric shocks and delayed training, according to research from the Electrical Trades Union (ETU).

A national survey of more than 400 apprentices conducted in April and May revealed that one in eight electrical apprentices experienced a potentially deadly electric shock during their training. That figure doubled to one in four among apprentices who didn’t begin their classroom education until after their first year on the tools.

The ETU says the delay in off-the-job training is jeopardising safety, with key modules in CPR, workplace health and safety and electric shock prevention delivered only once classroom learning begins. One in ten apprentices reportedly don’t start TAFE until their second year.

The findings have raised questions about the effectiveness of the Apprentice Connect Australia Provider (ACAP) program, a $200 million taxpayer-funded scheme that pays private companies to mentor and advocate for apprentices.

According to the survey, one in five apprentices couldn’t identify their assigned mentor, while others said their mentors offered little or no support. Follow-up interviews found that mentors failed to help apprentices access training, resolve workplace disputes or ensure proper supervision. In some cases, mentors reportedly sided with employers seeking to terminate apprentices.

ETU national secretary Michael Wright describes the findings as “deeply disturbing”.

“Young people learning any trade should be taught how to work safe, get training on the tools and in the classroom and have someone in their corner to stand up for them,” he says.

“We need an apprenticeship system that works for apprentices, not the other way round.”

Michael says the findings showed the system was “failing the next generation of electricians” at a time when Australia urgently needs more skilled workers.

“We need apprentice electricians to wire Australia into the future economy and build our way out of the housing crisis,” he says.

“Yet we are withholding essential safety training and funding mentors who are absent, ineffective or actively hostile to the apprentices they are paid to support.”

The ETU estimates that Australia will need more than 40,000 additional electrical workers over the next five years, but nearly half of all apprentices fail to complete their training.