Group training (GTO) or hire directly? An employer guide

How group training works

A GTO employs the apprentice under a registered training contract and places them with you, the host employer. The GTO is the legal employer. You provide the work, the supervision and the on the job training, and you pay the GTO for the apprentice's time.

The deal between you and the GTO is set out in a written Host Employer Agreement. Under the National Standards for Group Training Organisations, that agreement must spell out each side's responsibilities for training the apprentice and the charge out rate you pay. Read it properly before you sign, because it is the document that decides what happens when something goes wrong.

Group training is not the same as ordinary labour hire. The apprentice is in a formal apprenticeship with a training plan and a qualification at the end, and the GTO has to meet national standards to stay registered.

What the GTO handles

Because the GTO is the employer, most of the employer paperwork and legal risk sits with them, not you.

• •Recruiting and screening candidates, if you want them to find someone for you.
• •Signing up the training contract and registering it with the state training authority through an Apprentice Connect Australia Provider.
• •Paying wages, allowances, superannuation, leave and other entitlements under the right award, and handling PAYG.
• •Workers compensation insurance for the apprentice, and other insurances suited to their operation.
• •Claiming any employer incentives the apprenticeship attracts, since incentives go to the employer.
• •Arranging the training with the registered training organisation (TAFE or private RTO) and helping set the training plan.
• •A field officer who visits, checks progress, mentors the apprentice and helps sort out performance or attendance problems.
• •Rotation: if your work dries up, or the apprentice needs skills you cannot offer, the GTO can move them to another host so the apprenticeship keeps going.

What you still handle as the host

Hosting is not hands off. The apprentice works on your jobs, under your people, so the day to day still lands on you.

Under the model work health and safety laws, both the GTO and your business have safety duties for the same worker at the same time. You control the site, so you are expected to manage the hazards on it, and you and the GTO must consult, cooperate and coordinate. A GTO holding the workers compensation policy does not take your safety duties away.

• •Appropriately qualified supervision, including any ratio or licence supervision rules in your trade and state.
• •A safe workplace free from bullying and harassment, with site induction and PPE.
• •Proper on the job training across the range of work the qualification needs.
• •Releasing the apprentice for TAFE or other off the job training.
• •Signing off workplace evidence and taking part in assessment where needed.
• •Telling the GTO quickly about performance, attendance, injuries or changes to hours.

How GTO charges are structured

GTOs usually quote a charge rate per hour the apprentice works for you, plus GST. There is no set national rate. Each GTO sets its own, and it varies by trade, apprentice year, award, state and the services included, so get written quotes from more than one.

The hourly rate generally bundles the apprentice's award wage with the employment on-costs and the GTO's service fee for recruitment, admin and field support. A federal program document describes the GTO service fee as sitting on top of the wages the GTO pays and invoices to the host. The rate goes up as the apprentice moves into each new year of their apprenticeship and when award wages rise.

To compare quotes fairly, find out exactly what is inside the hourly rate and what gets billed on top.

• •Which on-costs are built in: superannuation, workers compensation, payroll tax, leave accruals and public holidays.
• •How TAFE days, annual leave and sick days are charged: spread across the hourly rate, billed separately, or not charged.
• •How overtime, travel, tool and other award allowances are billed.
• •Whether there is a minimum number of hours per week or per billing period.
• •How much notice you must give to hand the apprentice back, and any fees for ending early.
• •Who supplies tools, PPE and uniforms.
• •How and when the rate changes each year.

What direct hiring really costs

When you employ the apprentice yourself, you pay the wage and every on-cost directly, and you carry them whether or not there is work. Award wages for apprentices depend on the award, the apprentice's year, age and whether they finished Year 12, so use the Fair Work Pay Calculator rather than a rule of thumb. See Apprentice wages in Australia for how apprentice pay is set.

The fair comparison is not the GTO's hourly rate against the apprentice's hourly wage. It is the GTO rate against your total cost per productive hour once you add everything below, including the hours you pay for but the apprentice is not on your tools.

• •Award wages, allowances and penalty rates, including paid time at TAFE.
• •Superannuation guarantee contributions.
• •Your workers compensation premium.
• •Payroll tax if your business is over your state's threshold. Many states exempt or rebate eligible apprentice wages, so check with your state revenue office.
• •Annual leave, personal leave and public holidays.
• •Training fees or textbooks your award may require you to pay or reimburse.
• •Your own admin time for payroll, the training contract and record keeping.
• •Offsetting these: any employer incentives you are eligible for are paid to you, not to a GTO.

Incentives under each option

Federal employer incentives are paid to the employer. If you hire directly, eligible incentives come to you. If you host through a GTO, the GTO is the employer and claims them. Ask each GTO whether incentives are reflected in its charge rate, because practice varies.

As at November 2026, the official Australian Apprenticeships page on the changes says that from 1 January 2027 the Key Apprenticeship Program Employer Incentive will be up to $4,000 (down from $5,000) for eligible apprenticeships, and the Priority Hiring Incentive stays at up to $2,500, both paid in two instalments in the first year. Employers with 200 or more employees will not be eligible for either, except GTOs. Apprenticeships that start or restart before 1 January 2027 keep the current rates. The Priority List is also being updated under a new method from 1 January 2027, so eligibility depends on your apprentice's occupation at the time they start. See Apprentice employer incentives in Australia: what you can claim for detail.

The federal GTO Reimbursement Pilot Program paid GTOs up to $100 a week for up to 52 weeks to cut the charge rate for small and medium businesses hosting for the first time in two years. Its FAQs say it closed to new entrants on 30 April 2026, or earlier if all 400 places were taken. Some states run their own programs. For example, Western Australia's GTO Wage Subsidy for building and construction requires GTOs to pass at least 80% of the subsidy on to small and medium host employers through lower charge out rates. Ask your Apprentice Connect Australia Provider or state training authority what applies to you now.

The National Standards and finding a registered GTO

Every registered GTO must meet the National Standards for Group Training Organisations, which all states and territories adopted from January 2017. They cover three areas: recruitment, employment and induction; monitoring and supporting apprentices to completion; and governance and administration. For you as a host, the standards require the GTO to give clear and accurate advice, put a Host Employer Agreement in place, support you for the length of that agreement, arrange rotations if needed, have systems to keep apprentices employed through downturns, hold appropriate insurances and stay financially viable.

State and territory training authorities register GTOs and audit them against the standards. Registered GTOs appear on the national register, which you can search on the Australian Apprenticeships website. As at November 2026 the search lists 147 GTOs. Some states, such as NSW, also publish their own lists by region. Registered GTOs can use the Group Training logo, and it is an offence for an unregistered or deregistered GTO to use it.

If you are in Queensland or Victoria, also check the GTO's labour hire licence. Queensland's labour hire licence applies to GTOs that supply apprentices and trainees to other businesses, and in both states hosts must only use licensed providers, with penalties for using an unlicensed one. Each state's labour hire authority lets you check a provider's licence online.

• •Search the national GTO register on apprenticeships.gov.au and confirm the GTO is listed.
• •Check the GTO covers your trade and region and has a field officer near you.
• •In Queensland or Victoria, check the labour hire licence.
• •Ask for a sample Host Employer Agreement and a written charge rate before you commit.

When group training makes sense

• •You have never had an apprentice and do not know the training contract, award or incentive system.
• •Your workload is uncertain or seasonal and you cannot promise four years of steady work.
• •You are a sole trader or small crew without anyone to do payroll and apprentice admin.
• •You want help finding and screening a candidate.
• •You want to try an apprentice before committing to employing one, and the GTO allows a later transfer.
• •You are a larger business that wants a steady apprentice intake without growing your own HR load.

When hiring directly makes sense

If you have already found someone and want to employ them yourself, How to hire an apprentice in Australia: a step by step guide for employers walks through the steps, and /match is the site's free tool for ABN-verified employers to find apprentice candidates who have opted in. Your obligations as a direct employer are set out at Your obligations when you employ an apprentice.

• •You have steady work in the pipeline for the full apprenticeship.
• •You already run payroll and have an accountant or bookkeeper who knows the award.
• •You want the apprentice to be your employee from day one, loyal to your business and trained your way.
• •You are a small or medium business eligible for employer incentives and want those paid to you.
• •Your total direct cost per productive hour works out lower than GTO quotes for the same apprentice year.

The risks either way

With a GTO, the main risks are cost, fit and control. Over a full apprenticeship you usually pay more per hour than employing directly. The apprentice can be rotated to another host, so the person you trained may not stay. Check what the Host Employer Agreement says about poaching or later transfer if you want to keep them, and be clear on notice periods and fees for ending a placement. You still carry safety duties for your site, and a poor GTO with a stretched field officer gives you little support for the money.

Hiring directly, the main risks are commitment and compliance. A training contract is not a casual job: if work dries up you cannot simply let the apprentice go, and suspending, transferring or cancelling the contract runs through your state training authority's process. Getting the award, paid training time, super or record keeping wrong is your liability. You also carry the full cost of a bad hire.

This is general information, not legal or financial advice. Before you sign anything, check your obligations with the Fair Work Ombudsman, your state training authority or an adviser, and use the state guides at Apprenticeships in NSW: incentives, fee-free training and where to start, Apprenticeships in Victoria: incentives, Free TAFE and where to start, Apprenticeships in Queensland: incentives, free training and where to start, Apprenticeships in WA: incentives, fees and where to start, Apprenticeships in South Australia: incentives, fees and where to start, Apprenticeships in Tasmania: incentives, fees and where to start, Apprenticeships in the ACT: incentives, fees and where to start and Apprenticeships in the Northern Territory: incentives, fees and where to start for local rules. For the apprentice's side of group training, see Group Training Organisations (GTOs) explained.