Rebooting trade apprenticeships

Men and women in their 30s, 40s and even 50s can do apprenticeships to become tradies.

The Government unveiled a $1.6 billion employment re-training package in its Budget in anticipation of the unemployment rate rising towards double-digits over Covid-19.

There is no age limit to the funding, and one older apprentice urges people in their 40s not to write it off as a way back into paid work.

Craig Harris said if government backing for apprenticeships had been around when he started out he would have jumped at the opportunity.

Harris is a 46-year-old painting and decorating apprentice in his third year of training under the BCITO apprenticeship scheme.

Before that, Harris had for 13 years worked as a signmaker, which involved some painting. When he became unemployed it made sense to go down the painting track, he said.

A friend referred him to his current boss, James Patterson, who gave him a trial and then asked if he was interested in doing the apprenticeship.

‘‘I thought if I’m going to be in the trade I may as well have the qualifications.

‘‘When you get to your 40s and you’re not sure where things are going to head it’s quite a daunting task to think about where you’re going to go and what you’re going to do,’’ he said.

Warwick Quinn, chief executive of BCITO, which helps 17,000 apprentices in the building industry, said: ‘‘This package goes a long way towards breaking the ‘boom and bust cycle’ and keeping talent in the system.’’

Despite being anxious about his apprenticeship, Harris said he had to hit it head on and run with it. ‘‘You come out the end a whole lot better off.’’

Craig Harris became an apprentice in his 40s. After working as a signwriter, he began a painting and decorating apprenticeship that he will complete later this year.