The preservation of the apprenticeship system in the Australian construction industry contrasts with its collapse in Britain over the last three decades. Given that the Australian construction industry has undergone the same structural changes that are conventionally advanced to account for the decline of apprentice training in the United Kingdom construction industry, this difference in outcome requires explanation. Echoing the findings of Howard Gospel (1994), this paper suggests that the differences may be attributable to institutional differences in the organisation of labour, employers and the training system across the two countries.