Higher Apprenticeships trials

Higher Apprenticeships (HAs) are innovative new qualifications that extend the benefits of the apprenticeship and traineeship model to training at higher levels.

Participants in this pilot program work towards credentials at level 5 and above on the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and, just like regular apprentices and trainees, get to earn while they learn. This means combining on-the-job training and employment with off-the-job training in either vocational education and training (VET) or higher education (HE) qualifications – and in some cases, both.

HAs are another way we can support industry needs by investing in quality skills and career pathways. They’re being trialled in Victoria via two innovative projects:

Higher Apprenticeships and Traineeships Social Services Extension Project (HATSSEP)

As Australia’s fastest growing jobs sector, the social services have a vital role to play in Victoria’s economic recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Higher Apprenticeships and Traineeships Social Services Extension Project (HATSSEP) is designed to help grow this workforce and address skills gaps, with 400 funded traineeships for social services workers.

It’s delivered in partnership with the Workforce Innovation and Development Institute (WIDI) at RMIT University, and leading organisations in the Victorian social services sector.

The purpose of the project is to:

Give experienced and unrecognised social services workers the opportunity to upskill and gain credentials through a Certificate IV Disability traineeship (200 funded places).
Give experienced and emerging social service leaders the opportunity to upskill through an Advanced Diploma of Community Sector Management traineeship (200 funded places).

Big Build Higher Apprenticeship Pilot

Victoria’s Big Build is all about investing in our state’s infrastructure, roads and railways. To get it done, we’ll need a civil construction sector with critical future work skills in digital technology and managerial capability.

Partnering with Swinburne University, the Big Build Higher Apprenticeship Pilot is aimed at mid-level managers in engineering, project planning and surveying. These higher apprentices will work towards a Diploma of Applied Technologies (Civil Construction), combining on-the-job training with formal study.

Participants will be nominated by civil construction employers, and they’ll work on a major project investigating how transformative digital technologies can be implemented in their workplace to drive efficiencies and return on investment.