We need more apprentices to build our energy future, and we need them to finish their training.
By 2040, the number of electricians working in Victoria's energy sector must grow by 50 per cent.
But right now, the private training market is failing, with not enough starts and not enough completions.
That's why the Allan Labor Government is stepping in.
We will deliver Victoria's first publicly-owned apprenticeship academy.
The SEC Apprenticeship Academy will offer 2,000 electrical trade apprenticeships over the next four years.
These apprentices will earn while they learn and deliver the workforce needed to build Victoria's future.
And every single one of them will be employed by the SEC.
The SEC will become the largest employer of electrical apprentices in the state.
Why it's needed
Apprenticeships used to mean identity, pathway, job, security.
But now, getting a start on a worksite is something most individual apprentices have to find themselves.
Young people are forced to navigate their own way from site to site, job to job, without job security at the end.
That's why more and more young people aren't completing their apprenticeships.
By attending the SEC Apprenticeship Academy, apprentices won't just study together - they'll work together.
Instead of being left on their own, the Academy will place the apprentices on a wide range of energy projects.
Because the Academy is an industry-led partnership, they will be working alongside the best in the business.
And they will have access to world-class training facilities - one in Melbourne and one in regional Victoria.
The first full intake for the Academy will begin in January 2027.
The Liberals will cut the SEC
When Jeff Kennett's Liberals sold off the SEC, they shredded thousands of secure jobs.
Labor brought back the SEC to deliver publicly-owned renewable energy, and the Liberals will cut it all over again.
They'll abandon well paid and skilled regional jobs and push up power bills in the process.
We need these workers - our Victorian Energy Jobs Plan shows energy jobs will grow by 50 per cent to around 68,000 by 2040.
Around 37 per cent of these jobs will be in the regions.
If we don't train these workers here, investment will fall, projects will stall, and bills will rise.
As stated by Premier Jacinta Allan
"2,000 young workers in the SEC Apprenticeship Academy - earning while they're learning, building cheaper, homegrown power."
"Thirty years ago, a Liberal Government switched the lights off on my dad's career. Now we're training thousands of young people to switch them back on."
As stated by Minister for the State Electricity Commission Lily D'Ambrosio
"We can't let the apprenticeship pipeline become a pipedream."
"The Liberals cut the SEC - we brought it back. Now it's supporting a new generation of young people to work on the energy transition, and helping Victorians reduce their power bills and keep the lights on."
As stated by Minister for Skills and TAFE Colin Brooks
"Not only do we have Free TAFE - we'll now have more young apprentices working on SEC jobs and training in the SEC Apprenticeship Academy, so they can help secure our future."
"Will the Liberals back our apprentices, or will they cut them?"
