Electrical Apprentice

Read this before you compare hourly rates.

There is a lot of money being waved at apprentices in Melbourne right now. Around ten per cent of the electrical industry is now working on data centre construction, and those projects pay rates that residential work cannot match. We are not going to pretend otherwise.

So here is the number that actually decides how your next four years go. Energy Safe Victoria reports that roughly 40 per cent of electrical apprentices who start do not finish, and that between 800 and 900 Victorians every year work through four apprenticeship years and still do not come out holding an A-Grade licence. Four years of your life, and no ticket at the end of it.

The regulator names ineffective supervision as one of the largest barriers to getting licensed. Not pay. Supervision. A licence is signed off on demonstrated competency across the whole trade, and you cannot demonstrate that if your day is cable tray and containment on repeat while the tradesperson responsible for you is three floors away.

Ask every employer you talk to how they supervise apprentices, and what range of work you will actually touch. Here is our answer.

How we train you

• Supervising and developing apprentices is written into the position description of every A-Grade electrician here. It is part of their job, not a favour they do you when they have time.

• We meet the Victorian supervision requirements that became legally enforceable in September 2025, including competency-based supervision and direct supervision for high-risk work.

• Because we run a job from underground mains through to energisation, you get the full range of competencies rather than one slice of a large project.

• You will work across domestic, multi-unit, commercial and industrial sites, so your logbook fills with genuinely different work.

What you will actually learn

• Underground mains, consumer mains, conduit, trenching and pit work, which is where our jobs start.

• Rough-in and fit-off across every site type we work on.

• Switchboard installation, upgrades and modifications in accordance with AS/NZS 3000.

• Fault finding and diagnostics, supervised at first and increasingly on your own.

• Testing, verification and the certificate of electrical safety process before energisation.

Who we are hiring

Apprentices in their second, third and fourth year. If you are a first year, an adult apprentice, or you started an apprenticeship somewhere else and want to finish it properly, we want to hear from you as well. Tell us what you have done and we will work out where you sit.

The money

The hourly rate below is the figure that appears on your payslip. Your tool allowance, licence allowance, industry allowance and travel time are already built into it, so what you see is what lands in your account.

• Second year $20.69 to $22.27 an hour

• Third year $23.85 an hour

• Fourth year $27.64 an hour

• Adult apprentices, 21 or over when you started, $27.01 to $30.04 an hour

What else you get

• TAFE fees and textbooks paid by us, and you are paid to attend trade school.

• Permanent full time, a 38 hour week and 13 rostered days off a year.

• Uniform and personal protective equipment supplied.

• Three branches across Melbourne at Hillside, Craigieburn and Dandenong South, so there is usually a yard closer to home than you think.

Support you may not know you can claim

Most apprentices we speak to are not aware of what is available to them. We will help you work through the eligibility for all of it.

• Up to $10,000 through the Federal Government's Key Apprenticeship Program, subject to eligibility.

• Australian Apprenticeship Support Loans of up to $27,048, paid monthly, with a twenty per cent reduction in the debt if you complete.

• The Victorian trade apprentice registration discount, worth up to $930 a year off one vehicle registration renewal where you use the vehicle for work.

• Free Victorian Government upskilling delivered through NECA, including EV charger installation, switchboard upgrades for home electrification, and reverse cycle air conditioning for fourth years.

Where it leads

Our A-Grade electricians earn $40 to $50 an hour with a fully maintained van, fuel card, iPad and phone. A large share of them came through as apprentices with us.

About us

Evolution Electrical is a family owned electrical contractor founded by Mat and Kathy Sakic in 2011. Fifteen years on we run three branches across Melbourne, a fleet of 20 vehicles, and a team we have largely trained ourselves. Mirrastone, Victoria's largest residential builder, named us their Professional Trade of the Year.

Evolution Electrical is an equal opportunity employer. We currently have female apprentices on the tools and we strongly encourage young women to apply.