Episode

DEEP DIVE: Where did all the apprentices go? We’re about to really need them

Podcast
Hack
Published
Sep 4, 2026
Duration seconds
780
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/deep-dive-tradie-shortage/107117824
Audio
https://mediacore-live-production.akamaized.net/audio/02/o6/Z/la.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/hack-771880/episodes/deep-dive-where-did-all-the-apprentices-go-we-re-about-to-really-need-them
Markdown
/podcast/hack-771880/deep-dive-where-did-all-the-apprentices-go-we-re-about-to-really-need-them.md

Actions

  • POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/hack-771880/episodes/deep-dive-where-did-all-the-apprentices-go-we-re-about-to-really-need-them/transcription-requests
    Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
  • GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/hack-771880/deep-dive-where-did-all-the-apprentices-go-we-re-about-to-really-need-them.md
    Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

Summary

Some tradies are anticipating a 'blue collar gold rush'. Big infrastructure projects to build data centres and underground tunnels mean that tradies, particularly electricians, are about to be in high demand. But, what if there aren't enough tradies to build everything we need? In this week's deep dive, we hear about the tradie shortage expected over the next few years and whether Australia can get its apprentice numbers up. Guest: Ben Bardon, CEO, National Australian Apprenticeships Association Get the whole story from hack: Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Subscribe to the hack podcast Listen on the triple j app or on your radio live every weeknight at 5:30pm