Industry White Paper · 2026
The State of Trades & Apprentices in Australia 2026
A data led examination of the skills shortage, the apprenticeship pipeline, the clean energy build out and the future of skilled work in the age of AI. Read the five page briefing, fully referenced and free, with the complete 22 page report alongside it.
Get the 5-page briefing, free
The working version of our 2026 trades and apprentices report. Five pages. Same sources. Email in, PDF out.
Inside the full report
The complete 22 page edition
A preview of the full report: the cover, the executive summary, and the data behind Australia’s skills shortage. The form above unlocks the five page briefing, and links the complete edition alongside it.
What’s in the full report
Eight sections, fully referenced
The Skills Cliff
Demand is outrunning the trained workforce.
The Great Unwinding
Why the apprenticeship pipeline is leaking.
The Perception Gap
Why young people are not choosing trades, and the surprising truth.
The Electric Decade
Clean energy and the electrician supercycle.
AI & the Trades
Why skilled trades are the new safe harbour.
The Human Cost
Mental health, diversity and retention.
What Actually Works
Seven evidence based levers for the decade ahead.
Closing the Gap
The tools the sector has been missing.
Commissioned and published by TradeitUp. Sources include NCVER, Jobs and Skills Australia, the 2024 Strategic Review of the Australian Apprenticeship Incentive System, the Clean Energy Council and the ABS. Back to home.