It was crap when I started out as an apprentice in a dealer in 2010, the qualifieds were on sub $20/hour and the workshop manager was on $25/hour. I had $3500 worth of tools and was driving 600km a week to get to and from work that was paying me $7.05/hour which was about $270/week - what a joke, I was working weekends at 15 years old getting $17.50/hour labouring
The award wage was $19.64/hour in 2015 last time I bothered looking.
I'm an auto electrician by trade, LV mechanical and auto electrical isn't worth a pinch of goat **** fellas, you work your *** off, exposed to carcinogens, hurt yourself physically and then you have to supply your own tools for your mid $20/hour.
The only mechanical trade area worth some spondoolies is heavy vehicle - forget light vehicle.
You'll get paid more working spare parts, I sit in a climate controlled office, my only tools are a pen, a phone, a book and a PC and I get paid more now doing this then when I was a qualified auto electrician working on emergency vehicles and all I do is talk to people on the phone, over the counter and send emails and drink coffee all day
Surprise surprise there are 'skills shortages' for auto electricians and mechanics:
https://docs.jobs.gov.au/system/file...toelectaus.pdf
https://docs.jobs.gov.au/system/file...chanicsvic.pdf
Probably because you get paid more working at IGA stacking the shelf - they started importing heaps of mechanics on visas around Melbourne
One of my customers came in sooking about not being able to find an auto electrician for his mechanical business - had $1000/week on the job before tax, $25/hour get paid more warehousing
The wages around Melbourne for LV mechanics and auto electricians suck which is why there are bulk imports on visas.