The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has put some stark numbers around a challenge HVIA and its members know only too well.
Responding to the latest figures, ACCI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar highlighted new National Centre for Vocational Education Research data showing 216,000 trade apprentices were in training at 31 March 2026 – 12,880 fewer than a year earlier, a decline of 5.6 per cent.
Trade commencements are also continuing to fall. There were 77,550 trade apprenticeship commencements in the 12 months to March 2026, marking the fourth consecutive annual decline.
Across apprenticeships and traineeships more broadly, 289,090 Australians were in training at 31 March – 27.5 per cent fewer than in March 2022.
The numbers reinforce what HVIA has been hearing through our members, committees, training activities and broader industry engagement: attracting enough people into skilled vocational careers, supporting them through training and retaining those skills within our industry remains one of the heavy vehicle sector’s most important challenges.
That broader challenge sits at the heart of HVIA’s new Workforce and Industry Capability function, which takes a whole-of-career view – from attraction and entry through training, development, retention and advancement.
This is exactly the work we are progressing with our member committee, and we want all HVIA members to help shape what comes next.
We are not doing that work alone. Our TAFE and RTO partners nationally, organisations such as The Industry School, Jobs and Skills Australia and the Mining & Automotive Skills Alliance (AusMASA), along with other industry and workforce stakeholders, are all important parts of that effort, working alongside employers to strengthen pathways, training and outcomes.
Because an apprentice is not simply filling today’s vacancy or completing today’s qualification. Every person we successfully bring into the industry and help build a career is an investment in the human infrastructure that underpins Australia’s sovereign manufacturing, freight and logistics capability.
ACCI says Australia needs a “skills revolution”. The numbers suggest there is no time to waste.
For HVIA, the task is not to establish whether there is a problem. It is to work with our members and partners to better understand where the greatest opportunities for improvement lie – and turn that knowledge into action.
We want to hear what you are seeing, what is working, and what needs to change.
Steve Power
HVIA National Manager – Workforce & Industry Capability
Email: training@hvia.asn.au