The nation’s largest skills competition kicked off in Sydney yesterday (August 30), with the country’s most talented apprentices and trainees showcasing expertise in a range of trades.
Battling it out for the chance to represent Australia at the international Skillaroo contest next year, hundreds of young tradespeople from around the country converged on Sydney this week.
Launching the official competition, which coincides with National Skills Week, minister for skills Chris Evans said the annual event was a showcase of the country’s best vocational students.
Both former and current trainees and apprentices aged between 15 and 25-years-old will participate in the three-day skills contest, proving their abilities in 50 different categories.
“Skills area the passport to a better job. The young people competing at WorldSkills Australia are proof the opportunities that having a qualification can deliver,” Mr Evans explained.
“From traditional trades like plumbing and bricklaying through to floristry, fashion and web design, these young apprentices and trainees are now being offered the chance to use their qualification to take them around the world.”
Mr Evans said the competition was an opportunity to demonstrate to the wider community the benefits of vocational training and the different pathways on offer through apprenticeship and traineeship programs.
