Apprentice review

In Queensland, jockey apprenticeships are essentially work based training arrangements. A training contract binds the employer (trainer) and the apprentice jockey in an agreement covering the employment and training responsibilities of both parties.

The agreement nominates a registered training organization to deliver the off job training components. This training is agreed to in the Training Plan negotiated at the induction / enrolment meeting.

Racing Queensland (RQ) is the only Queensland registered training organization (RTO) for the delivery of the apprentice jockey program. The nationally recognized qualification is Certificate IV in Racing - Jockey, part of the national training package for the racing industry. (http://training.gov.au/Training/Details/RGR08)

Queensland is the only state where the control body is the sole training provider to the local industry. In other states this responsibility is shared with or exclusively the responsibility of TAFE and agricultural colleges.

The training of jockey apprentices in Queensland has always relied on a small function, which originally was attached to the Office of Racing. Later this operation was registered as a small private company, owned by the racing industry. The entity, Queensland Race Training Pty Ltd, was based at Deagon and operated an international program as its principal activity. In 2004 Racing Queensland replaced the company with an in-house training department as a key function of the control body. Today RQ is the only principal racing authority in Australia with the sole responsibility for the marketing, recruitment and training of apprentice jockeys as well as industry training in general.

 Download the full Apprentice Review Document