MEGT / Apprenticeship Support Australia
Apprenticeships & Traineeships
Overview
MEGT (Group Training Limited) is one of the nine organisations contracted by the Australian Government to deliver the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network (AASN). Their role is often misunderstood: MEGT is not a Registered Training Organisation and does not itself teach classes. Instead, MEGT is the connective tissue between three separate parties — the apprentice, the host employer, and the RTO that delivers the off-the-job component. They handle the formal Training Contract lodgement with the state training authority, administer the Commonwealth incentive payments that flow to employers and apprentices, run pastoral-care and mentoring visits throughout the apprenticeship, and step in to broker resolutions when a placement isn't working. For the mining industry, where a four-year apprenticeship can span multiple contractor sites and remote locations, this administrative and mentoring layer is the difference between an apprentice finishing their trade and dropping out at year two.
Courses & offerings
The trade qualifications most commonly signed up through MEGT for mining pathways are Certificate III in Engineering — Mechanical Trade (heavy diesel fitter, mobile plant fitter), Certificate III in Engineering — Fabrication Trade (boilermaker/welder), Certificate III in Electrotechnology (industrial electrician), Certificate III in Instrumentation and Control, and Certificate III in Automotive Electrical Technology (auto electrician). MEGT also administers Certificate II and III in Surface Extraction Operations traineeships, which are the standard entry pathway used by Fortescue's Trade Up, Rio Tinto's Ready program and BHP's operator traineeships. Every one of these qualifications is delivered by a partner RTO (typically TAFE) but signed up, monitored and financially supported through MEGT.
Career outcomes & earnings
A completed Cert III trade apprenticeship signed through MEGT is one of the most durable qualifications in the Australian economy. On completion, a first-year post-trade heavy diesel fitter in the Pilbara or Bowen Basin typically earns $130,000 to $170,000, rising to $180,000–$220,000+ once experienced and moving to shutdown day-rate work. During the apprenticeship itself, the apprentice receives an award wage that progresses annually, plus Trade Support Loan payments (interest-free) of up to $23,731 across the four years to help with tools, living costs and vehicle expenses. MEGT case managers also unlock small but meaningful incentives that many apprentices never claim independently — completion bonuses, remote-area subsidies, and support-for-disability funding where relevant.
Insider tips
Sign up with MEGT before your first day on the tools, not after — retrospective contract lodgement is possible but slows every incentive payment by months. Keep every timesheet, TAFE report and safety induction certificate together in one folder; you will need them to sign off your final trade paperwork. If your host employer becomes insolvent or lets you go partway through, contact MEGT immediately — they have specific protocols to transfer your contract to a new host and preserve your completed hours.