Category: Truck & Heavy Vehicle Driving Apprenticeships

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First Reported in BigRigs in March 2025.

With over 26,000 positions unfilled, truck driving is one of the top five occupations with a skill shortage. The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) is calling on the government to do more to support up and coming drivers.

Ahead of the upcoming 2025 federal election, ATA Chair Mark Parry said the next Australian Government should provide financial support to apprentice and trainee truck drivers and their employers.

Today, Parry released the first of the ATA’s policy initiatives for the 2025 federal election campaign, highlighting its plan to “fix Australia’s truck driver shortage”.

The ATA is calling on Australia’s political parties to commit to:

1. Providing financial support to driving operations apprentices and their employers;
2. Paying a completion bonus to drivers who complete one of the short driver training courses run by RTOs with trucking industry associations, state governments and major companies;

Launching a national skills passport so drivers and other workers can share evidence of their qualifications and skills; and
Adding articulated truck drivers and tanker drivers to the skilled occupation list for migration to Australia, after overseas driver licensing is fixed.

“Trucking is one of Australia’s essential industries. We deliver every item at your local supermarket, every litre of fuel at the service station and every medicine at the chemist, but we face a shortage of truck drivers,” Parry said.

“The Australian Government provides financial support to apprentices in priority occupations such as electricians and mechanics. But it does not support people who want to work as truck drivers, even though driving operations can be an apprenticeship.”

The ATA is calling on the next government to provide financial support to apprentices undertaking driving operations apprenticeships and to their employers.

“Apprentices should receive $5000 in support over their apprenticeship. Employers should receive $2000 after six months and a further $3000 after 12 months,” Parry said.

He added that a number of registered training organisations ran short truck driving courses that went beyond getting a licence, to include other skills that drivers need to succeed.

“These short courses are supported by state governments, trucking industry associations or major companies, but there are no federal incentives for potential drivers to give them a go,” he said.

“The next government should pay a completion bonus of $1500 to drivers who complete one of these short driver training courses. The driver’s first employer should receive a $1500 hiring bonus.”

Parry said the next government should also launch a national skills passport to make it easier for drivers and other workers to demonstrate their skills and qualifications. The ATA believes a skills passport would also help businesses hire new staff with confidence.

“Our 2024 Workforce and Driver Training Summit called for the creation of a passport system so truck drivers could easily show they had the licences and qualifications they need, such as holding a dangerous goods licence or completing an NHVAS fatigue course in addition to their driver’s licence,” he said.

Parry said that articulated truck drivers and tanker drivers should be added to the skilled occupation list for migration to Australia.

“It is extremely difficult for truck drivers to migrate to Australia, except under very narrow circumstances,” he said.

“Last year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics recognised that articulated truck and tanker driving required a similar level of skill to a trade certificate.

“We welcome skilled tradies to Australia. We should welcome safe, experienced drivers from overseas too, although the overseas driver licensing system needs to be fixed first. We’ll discuss how to do this at Trucking Australia 2025 in April.”

The ATA says it will be releasing more policy proposals as the federal election gets closer.

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The new heavy vehicle driver apprenticeship has been launched, however that is not the end of the matter.

The long-sought Certificate III in Driving Operations received some fanfare shortly before Christmas, but Australian Industry Standards (AIS) is still looking for feedback on the deeply related issue of driving instruction.

The TLI Driving Instruction project includes two new skill sets and nine units of competency.

“For an aligned pathway for driver trainers and to enable mobility of vehicle instructors across all three driver/rider training sectors, Certificate IV qualifications in Transport and Logistics, Road Transport – Car Driving Instruction; Heavy Vehicle Driving Instruction; and Motorcycle Riding Instruction have been amalgamated to one qualification, TLI41221Y Certificate IV in Driver Training,” AIS states.

The deadline for feedback is February 7. The apprenticeship launch saw ministerial and prime ministerial involvement in the launch announcement that came hard on the heels of that of cash to Incitec Pivot to shore up AdBlue supply.

“Truck driving is about more than just changing gears and unloading – by providing a national driver training framework, our future truck drivers will have an advanced competency across the profession, such as load constraints, transporting dangerous goods and pre-departure inspection,” Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz said earlier, while noting at the event the average age of Australian truck drivers is 56.

“This is a new approach to ensuring our transport industry has the workforce of the future and provides young Australians with the opportunity to have a career, not just a job – in a rewarding industry.

“The Commonwealth led the nation on this and we will continue to work with state and territories skills ministers to ensure they step up to roll out this new and exciting apprenticeship pathway for the next generation of professional, Australian truck drivers.”

The announcement was made at John West Logistics’ Brisbane depot, where prime minister Scott Morrison underlined the need for the initiative.

“Through the JobTrainer program, through the Boosting Apprenticeships program, we have seen a 30 per cent increase in those and apprentices and traineeships over the last couple of years,” Morrison said.

“And that’s what Australia needs, and our government is investing in the skills and training that Australians need to get those jobs and employers like John West need here so they can get people into those jobs. And in the years ahead, that is going to be a key challenge for our economy.”

West described the move as “a great thing for the industry”.

“It’ll help us immensely and will help us bring that age down,” West continued.

“And it’s great for the younger generation, they can start off a little truck and they’ll end up driving a B-double.

“So, it’s a great thing. It’s a big step forward for our industry.”

The Transport and Logistics Industry Reference Committee finalised updates to the Certificate III in Driving Operations and the nationally agreed enhancements have been recommended for delivery as an apprenticeship, subject to states and territories agreement.

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Overwhelming industry support for a heavy vehicle driving apprenticeship has convinced the Industry Reference Committee (IRC) overseeing the proposal to give the concept its official tick of approval.

In a communique released today, the IRC recommends that a 2-4 year national apprenticeship be established utilising the existing Certificate 111 in Driving Operations (TLI 31221), which could be up and running as early as next year.

There are a still a series of implementation issues to be addressed while further consultation is underway with the Commonwealth, state training authorities, regulators and insurers.

But Australian Industry Standards (AIS) CEO Paul Walsh tells Big Rigs that he’s encouraged by the highest level of support from the transport and logistics sector ever seen with “strong” submissions across the board, and over 200 participants to an associated webinar, and a “significant” number of questions to the panellists.

“Which just demonstrated that people were inquisitive about what this might mean, which is very encouraging to see,” said Walsh.

“We were pretty pleased with the response rate but also the fact that the issues that were identified were not show-stoppers. It was more about if this happens, what will happen to existing arrangements.”

These issues include, but are not limited to the following:

Transition arrangements for the current Traineeship
Nominal term for the apprenticeship and flexibility
Financial and supervisory implications for employers
Suitability of apprenticeship for Bus and Dangerous Goods sectors
Insurance premiums for under 25-year-old drivers
Age-based versus competency-based licensing arrangements
Pre-apprenticeship pathways

Walsh said the next step is to start conversations with the various state and territory authorities which are responsible for implementing the apprenticeships.

“But the great thing here is that industry stakeholders are keen to be involved in any of those conversations to make sure they identify solutions.”

Walsh said the most significant step with the apprenticeship concept is that it builds the pathway from school which doesn’t exist now and opens up more funding opportunities for employers.

“The other important thing to state is that it’s not mandated that you have to do an apprenticeship to get into the industry. That’s something that may be considered in the future, if people thinks that’s the right way to go.”