THE Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called on the State Government’s newly established Skills Formation Taskforce to seek an overhaul or abolition of the Industrial Training Act. CCI chief executive John Langoulant said WA’s apprenticeship rules were archaic, inflexible and stood in the way of solving the state’s skills shortage. He said employers would be more willing to take on apprentices if the rules allowed one or two-year indentures at a time, rather than a strict four-year commitment. Completion of apprenticeships also should be based on competency rather than time served. “The government’s current strategy of pouring more money into apprenticeship incentives without modernising the rules will do little to deal with the immediate shortage or to overcome the reluctance of some employers to invest in traditional apprenticeship programs,” he said. Mr Langoulant’s comments come after the government’s annou-ncement that former state development minister Clive Brown will head the new Skills Formation Taskforce and Woodside chief operating officer Keith Spence will be the new chairman of the State Training Board, as foreshadowed in WA Business News last month.