Senator Ryan asked the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs, upon notice, on 4 December 1980:

(1) How many people are currently receiving training under the Commonwealth Rebate for Apprentice Full-time Training (CRAFT) Scheme.

(2) How many of these are women.

(3) How many of these are women born outside Australia.

(4) How many are Aboriginals.

Senator Dame Margaret Guilfoyle —The Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Employers of a total of 48,646 apprentices have been approved for assistance under the CRAFT program for the period 1 January 1980 to 31 October 1980. It is impossible to give figures at this time for all those apprentices currently in training who will attract CRAFT assistance for their employers in 1980. Claims for assistance are made retrospectively with the bulk of claims being received at the end of the year. It is expected that the total number of apprentices in respect of whom CRAFT assistance was provided for the calendar year 1980 will be in excess of 80,000.

(2) to (4) Separate statistics concerning apprentices trained are not available for women, women born outside Australia, or Aboriginals. They have not been collected in this format as this information is irrelevant to eligibility under the scheme.