In the face of escalating youth unemployment, some new approaches are needed for training out-of-school youth in Australia. The current system of apprenticeship has become outmoded because many of the skilled trades that the system prepares young people for will soon be non-existent. One approach to this problem has been implementation of short-term training courses; however, they are simply an example of the government's reactive measures designed as a response to immediate manpower needs or the present high level of unemployment. The challenge instead is to move from these ad hoc measures to an active manpower policy, to create training schemes that can increase the number of real, permanent jobs available by making possible the growth of new, self-supporting industries that would otherwise not get off the ground for lack of the necessary skilled manpower. Some of these possible strategies are the following: (1) alternatives to apprenticeship (especially in the manufacturing area), such as modular training for short periods or sandwiching courses between terms of full-time employment in the field; (2) avenues of transfer between sectors of tertiary education; (3) a first-job program for school leavers; (4) a youth guaranteed employment or training scheme; and (5) opportunities for lifelong education. Although it would be unrealistic to expect any of these measures to bring about an immediate reduction in unemployment, the value of such programs is that they represent an investment in future economic growth rather than a mere holding action to keep young people temporarily out of the primary labor market in the hope that things will somehow improve in the meantime. (KC)