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The Australian Apprenticeship Roundtable is a forum that provides Australian apprentices with the opportunity to inform governments and ministers about issues that may be affecting their training as well as careers.  All apprentices should thus look forward to being part of the roundtable because it is a great opportunity for them to express themselves.

The Australian apprenticeship forum is indeed one of a kind as it specifically gives Australian apprentices a voice considering that they are the main users of the national training system. This means that information arising from the forum is often up-to-date since apprentices and trainees have the opportunity to directly give information about their current experiences on vocational pathways, successes as well as challenges. In addition, information arising from such forums goes a long way to inform future policy and program development.

In its attempt to offer Australian apprentices a voice, the Australian Apprenticeship Roundtable has held several meetings over the years. In 2008, the Australian Apprenticeship Roundtable started off with a 3 day meeting in Canberra in June followed by another in September. Such forums provided an opportunity for;

1. Consultation with a number of key program areas available within the department
2. Provision of input to the Australian Apprenticeships Taskforce
3. Participation in an open discussion with Australian Apprenticeships Centre Marketing Advisory Group.

This Australian Apprenticeship forum also helped provide input into the planning of activities for the 2010 Australian Apprenticeship Roundtable, in addition to refreshing networks and friendships as well as evaluating how significant their contribution had been.

Finally, it is also worth noting that all participants of the Australian Apprenticeship Forum make genuine commitment and contribute towards raising the profile of vocational education and training. As an apprentice, you can also get to speak your mind by joining the Australian Apprenticeship Forum. This is an opportunity that you should not ignore as the Australian Apprenticeship Roundtable offers apprentices and trainees like you the forum to speak about issues that may be affecting them. If there is a way through which you can be heard, then it is through such forums.