Federal budget 2021: What it means for young people

Young people have been hit hard by the pandemic recession, but the government is hoping five major new measures will help turn things around.

Young people have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic recession over the past year, but the government is trying to give them a sense of hope with this year’s budget.

It has today revealed a suite of measures that it believes will help get them back on their feet, including an extension to the $1 billion JobTrainer program, a vow to create tens of thousands of new apprenticeships and traineeships, and increased mental health support.

The government says the number of young workers aged 15 to 24 looking for full-time employment who have been unemployed for more than 12 months has increased by 54 per cent between March 2020 and 2021.

Worried about the long-term implications of this, it has revealed a number of policies in today’s budget that are aimed at getting young people upskilled and into careers.

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JobTrainer extended

A key policy the government is championing is its JobTrainer scheme which aims to re-skill school leavers and young, jobless Australians.

It was initially meant to finish in September will be extended for another 12 months.

The government says this will provide a further 163,000 free or low-fee training places in areas of skills need, including 33,800 additional training places to support aged care skills needs and 10,000 places for digital skills courses.

The courses and costs covered are dependent on the state or territory which are half-funding the scheme.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says the program has been very successful over the past year, equipping more than 100,000 young Australians with vital skills.

The federal government will provide $506.3 million over two years from 2021-22 to extend JobTrainer.

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The JobTrainer program funds both apprenticeships and courses.

Apprenticeships and digital skills

The government will also provide an additional $2.7 billion over four years with the aim of creating more than 170,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships for young people.

The money will be spent on the extension and expansion of the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy to support businesses to take on new apprentices and trainees.

The government will also spend $10.7 million over three years to trial up to four industry-led Digital Skills Cadetship pilots to increase the number of Australians with high-level digital skills in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics and quantum computing.

The funding will help create more than 460 new scholarships.

In the same vein, it will spend $22.6 million over six years from 2021-22 to set up the Next Generation Emerging Technologies Graduates Program to provide up to 234 scholarships in emerging technologies areas.

The budget also includes $481.2 million over four years to continue and strengthen the Transition to Work program, which provides specialist youth employment services for people aged 15 to 24.

It says the intensive employment program for young people is expected to support an average caseload of around 41,000 disadvantaged people each year to transition into work or education, including apprenticeships or traineeships.

The National Careers Institute service is also being extended to support young people to make well informed decisions about their education and career paths through career coaching sessions.

The government says it is taking investment in Australia’s youth seriously.

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Higher education short courses

The budget also includes $26.1 million for non-university higher education providers to attract more domestic students, by providing an additional 5000 Commonwealth-supported short course places in 2021.

Help for aspiring home owners

The government is also extending its popular New Home Guarantee, adding another 10,000 places for first home buyers to buy a home with a 5 per cent deposit.

More mental health support

The government is aiming to improve in-person community based mental health services across the nation.

For young Australians aged 12 to 25, $278.6 million is being made available to enhance and expand Headspace centres across the country.

Education Minister Alan Tudge said investing in youth and education was an investment in Australia’s future and will help lock in our long-term economic recovery from COVID-19.

“We are backing young Australians right through their learning journey through our funding across early childhood education and care, schools, and higher education,” Mr Tudge said in a statement.

“We are giving Australians the best chance to reach their full potential and to get the skills and qualifications they need to get into a job, now and in the longer term.”