This paper examines the significance of the inter-firm provision of entry-level vocational education and training in Australia by studying a key group of interfirm providers, namely, group training companies. The nature of group training schemes is discussed with reference to two case studies, and two different kinds of group training companies are identified. The paper then goes on to argue that group training companies in Australia have developed a unique model of training provision, one that reduces the costs and the risks for employers of the employment relationship associated with contracts of training. Group training companies do this by directly employing trainees on behalf of employers thus establishing a market-based, contingent employment relationship between the trainee and the host employer. The paper concludes with a discussion of the risks entailed in this type of training provision if it is merely seen as an effective way of providing labour market programs while the broader skill formation function of group training companies is overlooked and ignored. © 2003, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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