Half-price vehicle registration for apprentices in construction trades will be introduced by the Victorian Government in the hope it will help them finish their training.

The discount will be introduced on January 1 next year, saving apprentices about $385 a year.

Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the discount was among a series of measures to encourage apprentices to complete their training.

“It’s just one of those incentives we’re trying to provide to … encourage people to do trades firstly, but also … to try and deal with those low completion rates,” he said.

“This is is just one of a suite of actions … we’re trying to undertake to get people to finish their apprenticeships.

“We’re going to need a greater mass of young people finishing their trades in the construction sector due to the work we’ve got going in terms of Melbourne Metro, level crossings, in terms of road construction.

“So it’s very much about being proactive as we roll these projects out, we actually have the skill-base to actually complete the projects.”

An auditor-general report released last year found despite a big increase in government spending, the completion rate for apprenticeships in Victoria had not improved.

It found that in the 10 years to 2014, a third of people who started a traineeship did not complete it.

Mr Donnellan said the Government was looking into current payment methods for registration in general, and whether bi-annual or quarterly billing could be introduced.

“I think any lump sum cost for individuals on limited incomes is difficult to make,” he said.

Originally published: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-12/discount-vehicle-registration-for-victorian-apprentices/6933766