How to Hire an Apprentice Tradie in Queensland

Dave Karras runs Karras Plumbing & Gas out of a tin shed in Bundamba, just east of Ipswich. Eight blokes on the tools, two utes that should've been replaced last winter, and a phone that never stops. Last September he finally cracked and decided to take on his first apprentice — partly because his best leading hand was burning out, partly because he wanted to grow the business without poaching another tradesman from a mate. Three months later, Dave's apprentice was on site, his paperwork was lodged, and he'd already discovered two things he wished someone had told him: the probation period is shorter than he thought, and the wage subsidies he was promised were tied to a form he hadn't filled in.

If you're a Queensland employer thinking about taking on an apprentice — sparky, plumber, fitter, chippy, diesel mechanic, whatever the trade — Dave's story is more common than uncommon. The mechanics of hiring an apprentice in QLD aren't complicated, but they are unforgiving if you skip steps. This guide walks you through how the system actually works in 2024, what you sign, who you talk to, how much it'll cost you, and where the traps are.

Start with the training contract — it's the legal spine of the whole thing

An apprenticeship in Queensland isn't just a job. It's a formal training arrangement registered with the state, governed by a training contract between you (the employer), the apprentice, and the relevant training authority. Without that contract registered, your apprentice is just a labourer being paid below-award rates, and you've got an industrial relations problem waiting to happen.

The contract is set up through an Apprenticeship Network Provider (often shortened to ANP or AASN — Australian Apprenticeship Support Network provider). These are federally funded organisations like MEGT, Sarina Russo, Busy at Work and BUSY Ability who handle the admin between the employer, the apprentice, the training provider (usually TAFE Queensland or a private RTO), and the government. They're free to use. You don't pay them — they're funded to make this process work.

The ANP will sit down with you and your apprentice, run through eligibility, confirm the qualification (e.g. Certificate III in Electrotechnology Electrician, or Certificate III in Plumbing), and lodge the training contract with the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training. You can find the full state-level rules and the list of declared apprenticeship trades on the Queensland Government's apprenticeships portal, which is worth bookmarking before you start.

Once the contract is registered, your apprentice is locked into the training system, you've got formal obligations around supervision and release for trade school, and you can start claiming the incentives that apply at the time.

GTO or direct hire: who actually employs the apprentice?

This is the decision most QLD employers underestimate. You've got two main routes.

Direct host employer

You employ the apprentice yourself. They're on your books, you pay their wages, you handle their super, leave, workers' comp, the lot. You're the legal employer for the full duration of the apprenticeship (typically three to four years). It's the cheapest option per hour and gives you the most control, but you carry all the risk — if work dries up, if the apprentice doesn't fit, if you lose your supervising tradesperson, you're stuck managing it.

Group Training Organisation (GTO)

A GTO — think MIGAS, MRAEL, Apprenticeships Queensland, East Coast Apprenticeships — legally employs the apprentice and hires them out to you as a "host employer". You pay the GTO a charge-out rate (usually somewhere between $28 and $42 an hour depending on year and trade), and they handle wages, super, leave, sick days, replacements when someone quits, and the bulk of the compliance paperwork. If the apprentice doesn't suit your business, the GTO finds them another host and sends you someone else.

Dave from Bundamba went the GTO route for his first apprentice. He reckoned the premium was worth it for the first 12 months while he figured out whether he had enough volume to keep an apprentice busy long-term. A lot of small-to-mid QLD outfits do exactly the same — GTO for apprentice one, direct hire for apprentice two once they've got the rhythm.

If you're going direct, you'll want to be advertising the role properly. Plenty of QLD employers list their vacancies on our apprentice jobs board to get in front of the school-leaver and career-changer pipeline early.

School-based, part-time or full-time?

Most apprentices in Queensland are full-time, working 38 hours a week with one day a week or block release at TAFE. But you've got options.

A school-based apprenticeship (SAT) lets a Year 10, 11 or 12 student start their qualification while still at school. They work a minimum of 7.5 hours a week (375 hours per year), and the time counts toward their apprenticeship and their senior certificate. For employers, SATs are a brilliant pipeline — you get to test-drive a kid for 12 to 18 months before they finish school, and if they're good, they roll into full-time when they graduate already knowing your site, your blokes and your job book. The downside is they're only available limited hours during term, so don't expect productive contribution on a tight job.

A part-time apprenticeship is less common but useful for mature-age career changers who can't go straight to full-time wages. They work and train at a reduced rate; the apprenticeship simply takes longer to complete.

For most employers, full-time is the default and the simplest. If you're after a more senior apprentice — say, someone with two years up their sleeve who can run small jobs solo — have a look at the demand patterns in roles like year-3 electrical apprentice positions, which tend to attract candidates already partway through their cert III.

The 12-week probation rule and what it actually means

Here's where Queensland employers get caught out. Under the Further Education and Training Act 2014 (Qld), every new apprenticeship has a probationary period baked into the training contract. For a nominal term of two years or more (which covers basically every trade apprenticeship), that probation is three months — roughly 12 weeks of actual work, not calendar weeks.

During probation, either party can cancel the training contract by giving written notice to the other party and to the department. No reason required, no unfair dismissal exposure on the apprenticeship itself. After probation, cancellation gets a lot harder — you generally need mutual agreement, or you have to apply to the department and argue your case.

What this means in practice: use the probation period. Don't wait until week 14 to decide whether your apprentice is a fit. Set a calendar reminder at week 8 to do an honest review with your supervising tradesperson. If the apprentice can't turn up on time, can't take direction, or isn't safe on tools, the conversation needs to happen before that 12-week window closes. After that, you're committed for the full term unless the apprentice agrees to walk away.

Worth noting: probation under the training contract is separate from National Employment Standards probation for the employment relationship itself. They run in parallel but they're not the same instrument.

What you'll actually pay: award rates in 2024

Apprentice wages are set by the relevant Modern Award for the trade — the Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award for sparkies, the Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award for plumbers and gassies, the Building and Construction General On-site Award for chippies and concreters, and so on.

As a rough guide for a four-year full-time apprenticeship, the percentages of the qualified tradesperson rate typically run around 55% in year one, 65% in year two, 75% in year three and 90% in year four. The actual dollar figures shift with each annual wage review, so always pull the current pay guide from Fair Work's pay guides page before you make an offer. Adult apprentices (21 and over when they start) have separate, higher minimums you need to be aware of.

On top of the wage, budget for:

• Superannuation at the current SG rate (11.5% as of mid-2024, rising to 12% in July 2025)
• Workers' compensation through WorkCover Queensland
• Tools and PPE — most employers cover boots, hi-vis and basic kit; tool allowances vary by award
• TAFE fees — Queensland's Free TAFE and Free Apprenticeships program covers most fees for priority trades, but check before you assume
• Lost productive hours during trade school release (you don't pay TAFE wages out of pocket beyond the normal hourly rate, but you do lose the day's billable output)

The Australian Government and Queensland Government both run incentive payments for employers — these change regularly, so your ANP is the best source of what's current the day you sign.

The paperwork checklist

Before your apprentice's first day, you want all of this sorted:

• Training contract signed by employer, apprentice (and parent/guardian if under 18), and lodged with the department via your ANP
• Employment contract or letter of offer covering the employment relationship separately to the training contract
• Tax File Number declaration and superannuation choice form
• Fair Work Information Statement provided (mandatory)
• WorkCover Queensland policy updated to include the new worker
• White Card (Construction Induction) if they're going to be on a building site — they can't step on without it
• Trade-specific licences and tickets where required (e.g. EWP, working at heights)
• RTO enrolment confirmed — your ANP usually handles this, but verify
• Supervising tradesperson nominated and named on the training plan
• PPE issued and signed for

Common pitfalls QLD employers walk into

A few traps that catch first-time apprentice employers, in no particular order.

Treating the apprentice as a cheap labourer. If your supervising tradesperson is too flat-out to actually teach, your apprentice will fall behind on competencies, fail TAFE assessments, and either leave or drag the whole job out. Apprenticeships are a training arrangement first. Build supervision time into your quoting.

Missing the wage progression date. Apprentice rates step up annually based on the anniversary of the training contract, not the financial year. Diary it. Underpayment claims here are common and easy to avoid.

Not releasing for trade school. You're legally required to release the apprentice on paid time to attend TAFE blocks. Skipping it because you're flat-strap will land you in front of the department.

Hiring without a real plan for year three and four. Plenty of small contractors take on an apprentice when they're busy in year one and discover by year three they don't have enough complex work to develop the apprentice to qualified standard. Think four years ahead, not four months.

Skipping reference and licence checks. Especially for adult or second-chance apprentices, verify previous training history through the ANP — partially completed prior apprenticeships affect credit and wage classification.

When you're ready to start advertising, post your apprentice vacancy with a clear description of the trade, the year level you're after, the suburb, and whether you're going direct or via a GTO. Candidates filter hard on those details, and the more honest your ad, the better the applicants you'll see.

Get the training contract right, use your probation period like you mean it, and treat the apprentice like a four-year investment rather than a three-month staffing fix. Do that, and you'll end up like Dave — running a bigger, more capable business with a tradesperson you actually grew yourself.