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.