Mentoring and Support
You don't have to navigate your apprenticeship — or hosting one — on your own. Our mentors provide personal, one-on-one support to apprentices and employers alike, helping build safe, supportive working relationships that actually last the distance.
What is mentoring?
Mentoring is genuine, one-on-one support from a real person — someone in your corner who helps you work through whatever comes up, whether that's at work, in training, or in life more broadly. It's one of the biggest factors in actually finishing an apprenticeship, not just starting one.
Support for Apprentices
What mentors help with:
- Settling into a new workplace and understanding what's expected of you
- Working through problems at work, including support with mediation if things get difficult with your employer
- Stress, wellbeing and staying motivated
- Adjustments and accessibility support where you need it
- Career guidance — including if you're thinking about changing employer
- Connecting with others going through something similar
Not getting along with your employer? It happens, and it doesn't mean your apprenticeship is over. Talk to your mentor — they can work with you and your employer to sort things out.
Extra support where it's needed most
Mentoring is available to every apprentice. Your mentor is there for the whole journey — not just when something's gone wrong.
Apprentice mentoring is delivered as two service groups: enhanced services and general services.
Enhanced services are available to:
- Women in male-dominated trades (WMDT)
- First Nations Australian apprentices
- Australian apprentices with disability
- Australian apprentices located in a remote location
General services are available to all other apprentices, and can be accessed at any time.
Whatever your situation, your mentor will work with you to build a plan that actually fits — covering what support looks like and how often you'll be in touch — and it can change as your needs do.
Would you like a mentor to reach out to you?
What you share with a mentor stays between you, except where we need to act on your safety or wellbeing.
Support for Employers
Taking on an apprentice is a two-way relationship, and we're here to support both sides of it.
Mentoring support is available if:
- You're new to employing apprentices, or have limited experience
- You've had trouble retaining apprentices in the past
- You have fewer than five employees
- Something's come up that could put your apprentice's completion at risk
What we can help with:
- Understanding your role in supporting your apprentice
- Practical strategies for supervising and managing your apprentice day to day
- Connecting you with the right training and support services
- Supervisor training to help you motivate and retain your apprentices
- Training in cultural safety, mental health and healthy workplace practices
Would you like a mentor to get in touch?
Supporting women in male-dominated trades
Retention matters, and women in male-dominated trades often need — and deserve — extra support to get there. Our WMDT mentoring offers:
- One-on-one mentoring sessions
- Networking events connecting apprentices with industry professionals
- Peer support groups for shared experience and encouragement
- Workshops on skill-building and confidence
- Career development support
We're proud that many of our past WMDT apprentices now qualified, come back to mentor the next generation coming through. If your organisation is passionate about supporting women in trades, we'd love to hear from you.