Apprenticeships Across the Ditch: What NZ Can Learn from Australia | 2026 NZVETRF Masterclass

New Zealand's apprenticeship commencements have fallen 40% since 2020 and only half of apprentices complete within six years. So what's happening across the Tasman, and what can we learn? In this NZVETRF Masterclass, Skills Group's Josh Williams is joined by two of Australia's leading vocational education voices: Gary Workman, Executive Director of the Apprentice Employment Network Victoria and GAN Australia country coordinator, and Peter Canavan, Senior Policy Officer at the Australian Industry Group's Centre for Education and Training. Gary unpacks GAN Australia's new return on investment research, including a free calculator employers can use to model the true cost and payoff of taking on an apprentice. Peter shares findings from Ai Group's national employer survey on why businesses take on apprentices, what's holding them back, and what happens when incentives disappear. Topics covered: -A side-by-side state of play: apprenticeship and traineeship numbers, age, gender, and completion rates in NZ and Australia -Why employers don't break even on an apprentice until year two or three, and why the third and fourth years pay off -The ROI numbers: $1.40 back for every employer dollar, $4.76 for every government dollar -The number one barrier to hiring apprentices: finding suitable candidates -How group training, pre-apprenticeships, and better careers advice could lift completions -Dual and higher apprenticeships, from trade certificates to engineering degrees -Australia's decision to remove incentives for large employers from 2027 Queries: [email protected]