Welcome apprenticeship support payments

Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA), the peak National organisation representing the interests of the 37,000 restaurants, cafes and caterers supports the Liberal Party’s proposed apprenticeship support payments.

The Association agrees with the philosophy behind the payments, which is that apprentices in a trade deserve the same support that university students receive.

Whilst the restaurant and catering industry employs a very large number of apprentice cooks, the traditional trade suffers from not being able to attract sufficient numbers of interested apprentices to meet demand.

This Trade Support Loan scheme will help apprentices without putting any additional burden on the employers of apprentices.

Seventy eight percent of the workforce is in occupations that are supported by the Vocation Education and Training (VET) system of which the trades are the corner-stone.

R&CA CEO John Hart believes that the VET sector is as important, if not more important, than the higher education sector, to the nations employers.

“This initiative recognises the importance of the trades and provides much needed support for our apprentices, which are the future of our trades.

“The Trades Support Loan scheme will make it easier to attract and retain apprentices without putting more burden on the employer,” said Mr Hart.

Source: Restaurant & Catering Association, 26 August 2013