The National Electrical and Communications Association (NECA) has addressed the Federal Budget’s latest announcements related to skills, apprenticeships and preparing the electrotechnology sector for the clean energy market.

Regarding training, NECA recognises the shared responsibility of Australia’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) system and the need for industry and government to influence it.

“However, the current system does not always produce job-ready graduates with the necessary skills,” NECA writes in a statement.

“We urge the government to subsidise adult apprenticeships, mandate the inclusion of appropriate workplace training, provide incentives for greater female apprentice participation and fund critical training in renewable and traditional electrotechnology sectors beyond public campuses.”

NECA adds that it strongly supports a competitive national training market, consisting of public and private registered training organisations (RTOs) overseen by a single national regulator.

“With the emergence of technologies such as batteries, solar infrastructure and electric vehicles, the industry is becoming increasingly important. Attracting and preparing apprentices with the relevant skills and expertise to meet the industry’s future demands, is now more important than ever, particularly as the skills and labour shortage crises continue to pull the handbrake on the productivity improvements so desperately needed in our industry and the wider economy,” NECA writes.

When it comes to clean energy investment and related training opportunities, NECA welcomes the commitment to investing $100 million to support 10,000 new energy apprenticeships.

“We recognise the importance of investing in renewable energy apprenticeships, particularly in the solar and energy distribution infrastructure sectors. However, while the focus on renewables in Australia is predominantly on solar and wind, there is a need to develop skills in emerging areas such as fuel cells and hydrogen,” it writes.

“We call on the Budget to provide new training campuses and facilities to accommodate the urgent VET requirements for the transition. There is a critical need to develop apprentices, reskill and upskill existing electricians, and increase the flow of new apprentices to address the skills crisis and provide necessary places for our youth to obtain meaningful and desperately needed skills.”

NECA says that an estimated 15,000 new workers are needed within five years if the renewables industry wants to meet its demands.