Previously, apprentices and employers entered into an apprenticeship agreement for a nominal amount of time (three to four years) to achieve their trade papers. As a result of the new policy established by Council of Australian Governments (COAG), apprentices can now complete their apprenticeship once the competencies from the qualification have been successfully completed and confirmed by the employer.
When the competencies from the Training Plan have been taught and assessed by Bendigo TAFE, we seek periodic confirmation with the employer that the apprentice is competent of performing that competency in the workplace. The method and the intervals/stages of confirmation will be discussed when the Training Plan is being negotiated.
Once all the competencies have been confirmed by the employer, the apprenticeship and qualification are completed simultaneously and the apprentice will be certified as competent by the State Training Authority. There is no longer a need to make special application for early release or to serve the nominal completion date as per the training contract.
The following links provide more detail on competency based training and how it impacts apprentice training.