Apprentices and trainees get $1.2bn through employer scheme
The addition of $1.2bn in support for apprentices and trainees has been declared great news by the sector.
The federal government’s $1.2bn COVID-19 support program for businesses to employ more apprentices and trainees has been welcomed by vocational education and training independent providers as “exactly the boost” needed.
“This is great news for businesses, plus the apprentices and trainees that they will employ,” said Troy Williams, chief executive of the sector peak body, the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia.
The package, announced on Sunday, will provide a 50 per cent wage subsidy for up to 100,000 new places. Each wage for a new or recommencing apprentice or trainee will be subsidised at up to $7000 per financial quarter, until the end of September next year.
The scheme is in addition to the $2.8bn Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy aimed at helping employers retain apprentices and trainees.
The government claims it has assisted as many as 90,000 businesses employing about 180,000 apprentices.
Mr Williams said that the two initiatives also built on the $1bn JobTrainer program announced in July to provide an extra 340,700 training places to help school-leavers and unemployed people skill-up or retrain in areas of demand.
“This $5bn investment in vocational education and training is exactly what’s required to support the economic recovery,” Mr Williams said.
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