THE AGA STORY

Apprenticeships Group Australia (AGA) started as the Latrobe Valley Training Company back in 1982. We were originally created through a partnership of local industry leaders to encourage more young people to enter trade apprenticeships. We did this by

• employing the apprentices ourselves,
• looking after their training and personal development; and
• arranging work placements with local host employers.

In the process, the concept of ‘group training’ was born. This model which has since been adopted by hundreds of other successful not-for-profit organisations across Australia.

Our business grew rapidly in response to the urgent need for apprentices, and within a few short years expanded into the wider Gippsland region, renaming itself Gippsland Group Training Ltd. (GGT)

In 1988, GGT sought accreditation to function as a Registered Training Organisation so that we could provide free, industry training to our apprentices as part of their qualification. Since that time we have built and run our own training facilities throughout Victoria. Our training services are widely recognised as being of an extremely high industry standard.

In 1994, GGT opened its first training centre in Melbourne under the business name Apprenticeships Victoria. As in Gippsland, the business expanded quickly to meet an increasing demand for young people to be trained and employed in the automotive, engineering and building trades.

In 1998 our organisation became an Australian Apprenticeships Centre, providing administrative support services to employers and apprentices in both Gippsland and Melbourne, under contract on behalf of the Australian Government. Since then we have successfully re-won this major contract on three separate occasions.

By 2008, the time had come to change names one last time. Our business now comprised 13 training centres and offices throughout Victoria, a dedicated staff of more than 100 people and an apprentice population of more than 1200, each one placed with a local host employer. After years of operating as GGT in Gippsland and AV in Melbourne, our board made the decision to unite both arms of the business under a single name.

Today we operate as Apprenticeships Group Australia in all regions, although Gippsland Group Training Ltd. remains the parent organisation. Although the business has changed in response to new challenges and industry needs over the years, our guiding philosophy has not. We still help young people to build a great career for themselves in trades, by working with industry to create employment opportunities.