Eligibility and age restrictions

Who can be employed as an apprentice or trainee?

• As a general rule, only Australian and New Zealand citizens have unrestricted rights to apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia. Any other person must have a visa allowing employment.
• High school students, usually in Years 11 and 12, can start as a school-based apprentice or trainee.
• Existing employees can use an apprenticeship or traineeship to recognise their skills, build on their knowledge, or to change or enhance their job prospects.

Age restrictions

There is no maximum age limit for participating in an apprenticeship or traineeship.

Generally, you need to have turned 16 or completed Year 10 to start one. Your parent or guardian must also sign the training contract if you are under 18.

Some age restrictions apply to particular apprenticeships and traineeships—refer to the Queensland Training Information Service for more information on minimum age requirements.

Non-residents of Australia

The right to legal employment in Australia does not always mean you can become an apprentice or trainee; for example if you hold a Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417) you are not eligible.

You can participate in apprenticeships or traineeships if you have one of the following visas:

• permanent residency visa
• permanent and temporary protection visas
• temporary or partner visa for subclass 309, 310, 820, or 826
• provisional visa subclass 163.

You are also eligible if you are the dependant of someone who holds:

• Business Long Stay visa under subclass 457
• Skill Independent Regional visa under subclass 495
• Skilled Regional Sponsored (Provisional) visa under subclass 475
• State/Territory Sponsored Business Owner (Provisional) visa under subclass 163.

If you did not meet the residency eligibility criteria at the time your contract was registered, we will cancel your contract and may recover any incentives or payments made to various parties.

Interstate apprentices and trainees

To be registered as a Queensland apprentice or trainee, you can live interstate but your workplace address must be in Queensland.

Interstate apprentices or trainees moving to Queensland

You can get credit for previous study if you have partially completed your apprenticeship or traineeship interstate and want to continue your training in Queensland.

When you sign a new training contract you will need to provide:

• an extract of service from the former state training authority

• a statement of attainment from the former interstate training organisation.

It is your, your employer's and your training organisation's responsibility to:

• negotiate a training plan
• establish a re-entry point
• decide what training you still need to complete.

Your employer needs to ensure the relevant wage entitlement is paid.