Building a better tomorrow

Several new measures that focus on building future skills have been released to improve job prospects and support people into work.

The recent announcement in the Federal Budget aims to help Australians get back into the workforce, providing them with the opportunity to gain skills and knowledge in industries that are either booming or facing a skills shortage. The Government aims to drive Australia’s unemployment rate below 5% and enable businesses to drive production, expansion and economic recovery.

Upskilling and re-tooling the workforce

Some of the key initiatives for Australia’s workforce include the following:

Apprenticeships & Traineeships

An additional $2.7 billion for the extension of the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy until March 2022. This scheme will provide a 50% wage subsidy over 12 months for newly commencing apprentices or trainees signed up by 31 March 2022. The subsidy is capped at $7,000 per quarter per apprentice or trainee.

JobTrainer

The previous commitment to the JobTrainer Fund has been doubled to expand the measure for another 12 months and to support a further 163,000 new training places.

The JobTrainer Fund will support hundreds of thousands of job seekers, school leavers and young people by providing access to free or low-fee training places in areas of skills shortages.

Support for Women

Following a disproportional impact that the pandemic had on women’s employment, the Australian Government wants to get women into the workplace, particularly targeting STEM and non-traditional jobs. Measures include:

$42.4million over seven years to establish the Boosting the Next Generation of Women in STEM Program
5,000 additional gateway services and in-training support services to encourage and support more women commencing in non-traditional trade occupations

As the Australian economy continues to recover, reskilling and upskilling is more important than ever. Apprenticeship Support Australia has long advocated for support for existing employers to upskill and retrain through apprenticeships and traineeships.

Apprenticeship Support Australia combines the 60 years of collective experience of Business Australia in NSW, Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Victoria and the CCI Western Australia, to deliver skills development advice and solutions to businesses and job-seekers across Australia.

Your business is our priority. Let Apprenticeship Support Australia help you create your workforce for the future.

Full outline of the above initiatives can be found here.

You may also like to read further information at the following links:

https://www.victorianchamber.com.au/news-media/all/2021/05/2021-federal-budget

https://cciwa.com/media-statements/budget-puts-business-back-behind-the-wheel-to-drive-recovery/

Business NSW responds to the Federal Budget. Here is an overview of their key messages.

If you require additional information please reach out to us here.

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