Mathew has already gone through the regional and state awards process successfully and will be among nine Victorian finalists in line for the national award.

Employed by Stawell Engineering, Mathew took out the Skilled Group Victoria Apprentice of the Year Award at state level in Melbourne and will now fly to Canberra with his family for the national awards.

Mathew has completed his Certificate III in Engineering - Mechanical Trade at the University of Ballarat (TAFE Division).

Skills and Workforce Participation Minister Jacinta Allan has congratulated the nine Victorian finalists in the Australian Training Awards.

Ms Allan said Victoria's strong line-up of finalists was a great testament to its world-class training system that gives people the skills they need to get the jobs they want.

``We have made important changes to TAFE and training that will open up more than 170,000 new government supported places by 2012 and help plug industry skills gaps,'' she said.