Getting started
If you are thinking about the future needs of your business, then consider apprenticeships and traineeships as a great way to recruit staff and train your employees.
An apprentice or trainee can be employed directly, or you can become a host employer through a group training organisation.
Group training organisations
Group training organisations are responsible for:
- screening and recruiting apprentices and trainees
- handling the administrative requirements of apprenticeships and traineeships
- paying apprentices and trainees
- charging host employers an hourly rate for the time apprentices and trainees work, based on the cost of wages, WorkCover, superannuation and - in some instances - an administrative charge
- arranging the off-the-job training components of apprenticeships and traineeships.
Find a group training organisation or telephone 1800 819 747.
You may also have some frequently asked questions about apprenticeships and traineeships, or want some training tips and options, or need information on pay and conditions for apprentices and trainees.
Five steps to employing an apprentice or trainee
Step 1 - choose the right apprenticeship or traineeship
Step 2 - find the right person
Step 3 - choose a training provider
Step 4 - complete the paperwork
Step 5 - use probation to be sure
Step 1 - choose the right apprenticeship or traineeship
There are over 700 different apprenticeships and traineeships to choose from. Selecting the right apprenticeship or traineeship for your business means:
- deciding what the job entails
- identifying the skills required to do the job
- determining whether the employee needs to be full-time or part-time. If you require someone on a part-time basis, think about whether a school-based apprentice or trainee will meet your needs.
For a list of all apprenticeships and traineeships currently available in Queensland, visit the Apprenticeships and traineeships section of this site or call Apprenticeships Info line on 1800 210 210.
Step 2 - find the right person
Taking on an apprentice or trainee is a big commitment. It is important that you think carefully about whether you can give someone a training opportunity and employ them for the term of the apprenticeship or traineeship.
Apprentices and trainees can be recruited by:
- contacting a group training organisation directly or calling 1800 819 747
- telephoning the Job Network employer line on 13 17 15
- placing an advertisement in the paper
- using a private recruitment company or an online recruitment service
- contacting your local high school (or telephoning 1800 626 839) and asking for details of the school-industry partnerships in your local area, to recruit students for a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship, an industry placement, or for an introduction to someone about to leave school
- contacting a local training provider to find students who have recently finished relevant introductory training and may be interested in an apprenticeship or traineeship.
Step 3 - choose a training provider
When you employ an apprentice or trainee, you need to both choose a training provider who will work with you throughout the apprenticeship or traineeship. The training provider will assist you and your apprentice or trainee to develop a training plan, deliver training, assess your apprentice's or trainee's achievement of skills, and issue a qualification on successful completion of the training.
Each training provider offers different methods of training apprentices and trainees. You and your apprentice or trainee should shop around for the right one to suit both your needs.
Points to discuss with a training provider include:
- what skills you want your apprentice or trainee to learn
- how and when the training provider can deliver training
- who will assess the apprentice or trainee, and when that assessment will take place
- what learning assistance is available - e.g. help with maths, reading or writing skills, or support for an apprentice or trainee with a disability
- what training methods suit your workplace and your apprentice or trainee
- what feedback or progress reports you can expect.
The Queensland Government has registered a number of training providers to deliver training for apprenticeships and traineeships. These training providers are called registered training organisations (RTOs), and may be either TAFE institutes or training colleges.
Some RTOs are funded by the Queensland Government to provide training for all apprenticeships, and some traineeships, at a reduced cost. Employers, apprentices and trainees have the option of selecting an RTO that receives government funding, or can choose to pay for training delivered by another training provider.
Visit the Queensland Training Information Service database for information on training organisations funded by the Queensland Government to deliver training in your chosen apprenticeship or traineeship.
Once you and your apprentice or trainee have chosen the right RTO, that organisation is then referred to as the 'supervising registered training organisation' in all official paperwork and legal documentation.
Following the induction and initial training plan development, your supervising registered training organisation will make contact with you at least four times in each year of the apprenticeship or traineeship to monitor training and provide support.
Step 4 - complete the paperwork
Signing and registering the contract
A training contract legally binds both you and your apprentice or trainee, and is signed by you, your apprentice or trainee, and the parent or guardian if the apprentice or trainee is aged under 18.
If you do not already have a training contract, you can obtain one from the Australian Apprenticeships Centre's website or by calling the Apprenticeships Info line on 1800 210 210.
Your Australian Apprenticeships Centre or your supervising registered training organisation can assist you to complete the training contract. Once it is completed, the contract should be sent to your Australian Apprenticeships Centre for lodgement with the Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts.
The contract will then be registered in order to receive any relevant Queensland Government funded training and incentives, and to be eligible for Australian Government incentives and allowances.
The training contract and training plan must be completed during the probationary period of the apprenticeship or traineeship. It is important to create the contract and plan as soon as possible, as the department must receive the signed training contract within one month of the end of the probationary period.
Once the training contract is registered, you will receive a letter from the department and a copy of the training contract.
It is important to remember that the training contract is legally binding. Once it is signed you are bound by both the conditions contained in the Vocational Education, Training and Employment Act 2000 and conditions contained in the contract itself. Therefore it is important that the training contract does not contain any false or misleading information.
Make sure you understand and check the information in the training contract before you sign it.
If the contract is cancelled, the department may take action, including:
- recovering funds provided for training
- recovering incentives or allowances
- prosecuting for breaches of the Vocational Education, Training and Employment Act 2000.
An Australian Apprenticeships Centre will:
- provide general information on apprenticeships and traineeships
- help you complete and lodge the training contract
- provide you with advice on your eligibility for Australian Government incentives
- help you lodge claims for Australian Government incentives
- make regular contact with you and your apprentice or trainee to check on the progress of training
- provide induction information.
More information on training contracts and locations for Australian Apprenticeship Centres is available on the Australian Apprenticeships Centres website or by phoning 13 38 73.
Step 5 - use probation to be sure
The probationary period specified in the training contract allows you and your apprentice or trainee to work together before deciding whether you both wish to continue with the training. During the probationary period you may assess apprentice or trainee's work ethic, reliability and potential to succeed to decide whether you have made the right choice of apprentice or trainee.
Probation begins at the commencement of the apprenticeship or traineeship. The standard probationary period is 90 days for an apprentice and 30 days for a trainee.
During probation, you must sign the training contract and negotiate the training plan with your apprentice or trainee and your chosen supervising registered training organisation. The training plan outlines the type of training the apprentice or trainee needs to undertake, who will deliver that training, when and where training will take place, and when and how that training will be assessed. This will assist you to manage your apprentice's or trainee's training program and work rotation.
If you need more time to decide whether to continue with the apprenticeship or traineeship, you can seek a probation period extension by contacting the Apprenticeships Info line on 1800 210 210 before the end of the probationary period.
Once probation is completed, you and your apprentice or trainee are contracted to each other for the length of the training contract. If either of you wishes to cancel the apprenticeship or traineeship after the end of the probationary period, you will need to contact Apprenticeships Info on 1800 210 210.
For more information, read the fact sheet on probationary periods.
Contact Apprenticeships info 1800 210 210 or Training Queensland 1300 369 935
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