Hundreds of apprentices and trainees in the ACT could be placed at risk unless group training organisations are exempted from the ACT’s planned laws to regulate labour hire activity.
The peak body representing group training employers in NSW and the ACT has urged that group training be specifically excluded from the ACT Labour Hire Licensing Bill 2020 which is aimed at encouraging responsible employment practices in the sector.
“We support the move to regulate labour hire activity, but it is important that group training is not unwittingly caught in that net,” said Jason Sultana, Executive Officer of the Apprentice Employment Network NSW & ACT.
“Business shutdowns due to COVID-19 have already seen thousands of apprentices and trainees lose their jobs across Australia.
“It is particularly bad timing to be introducing laws which raise uncertainty and place a question over apprentice employment.
“Group training provides secure employment for young people and is most definitely not labour hire, so we would like to see it excluded from laws that are intended to stop bad behaviour by labour hire companies,” he said.
There are 22, mostly not-for-profit, registered GTOs in the ACT that could be at risk if they were required to be licensed, in the same manner as proposed for labour hire companies.
GTOs are the legal employers of the apprentice and trainees and are responsible for recruitment, matching to a host businesses, meeting all employer obligations, including paying wages and entitlements, arranging formal training and assessment, and providing pastoral care and support.
Apprentices and trainees can be rotated to different host businesses if for instance, work dries up, or wider experience is needed.
GTOs currently employ about 25,000 apprentices and trainees across Australia and have placed more than a million into work since their inception in the 1970s.
In the ACT, GTOs must comply with stringent regulatory requirements and can’t operate unless approved and registered by the regulator, Skills Canberra. GTOs must also comply with the ACT Training and Tertiary Education Act 2003 and National Standards for Group Training.
“In other states, GTOs have been excluded from labour hire regulations and this should be replicated in the ACT legislation,” Mr Sultana said.
“GTOs are a proven avenue for apprentice employment and, in the ACT, can be monitored, investigated and have compliance enforced by the regulator, so should not be caught in this net”.
