Apprentices Stranded After Rockhampton Electrician School Closure

More than 80 apprentices in central Queensland have been left without a clear training path four months after a major electrician school in Rockhampton ceased operations, leaving small businesses frustrated. Rockhampton electrician Wayne Harris said his apprentices were completing their electrotechnology qualification with Electro Group until an email arrived in April informing him the not-for-profit training organisation would close its doors. Four months on, there is still no clear path forward.

"The fourth-years [apprentices] have had to go to Brisbane. There's no other option [than] to finish their training at their cost," he said. "The government's offered a little bit of incentive money, but it's nowhere near enough.

The main provider of the Certificate III in electrotechnology in the region is Rockhampton's TAFE, now amalgamated with CQ University. Mr Harris said he was told enrolments at the university for this year's intakes were full. "We can't get the first years now into their studies and into their blocks because they [the university] can't accept them, he said. Mr Harris said he knew of other small businesses facing similar challenges.