The Boosting Apprentice Commencements (BAC) and Completing Apprentice Commencements programs were introduced in October 2020 to support businesses to take on an apprenticeship or traineeship during the COVID-19 pandemic. They provided a 50 per cent wage subsidy over 12 months from the date of commencement, and smaller wage subsidies in later years of training.
Overall, the BAC program had a large positive effect on apprenticeship and traineeship commencements. There were about 190,000 (between 160,000–220,000) additional commencements during the 7 calendar quarters that the BAC program was open to entrants, compared to what modelling suggests would have been expected without BAC. This was an increase of about 70 per cent on the level of commencements that modelling suggests would have occurred in the absence of the BAC.
While the program achieved its purpose of increasing commencements, there were also some issues. The program was associated with a 7 per cent increase in the cancellation rate for non-trade occupations compared to the historical rates. This was not the case for trade occupations where the cancellation rate was 0.7 per cent lower. During interviews, stakeholders suggested that some businesses engaged in ‘sharp practice’, meaning they converted existing workers in non-trade occupations to training for the purpose of obtaining a wage subsidy rather than for the purpose of training. This was one of the likely drivers of the higher cancellation rate among non-trade occupations.