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- The Morrison Government is set to extend its $1 billion JobTrainer scheme by another 12 months in Tuesday evening’s Federal Budget
- The program, which is designed to support young and unemployed Australians, was first introduced in March 2020 and set to expire at the end of September
- Though it was already extended once in July, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said in an interview with the ABC the program is now being extended for another 12 months
- The program was made to fund around 300,000 training places for Australians aged between 17 and 24 or unemployed Australians looking for work
- The scheme supports TAFE and other training organisations by allowing them to offer specific courses at a cheap price or completely free of charge
- On top of this, JobTrainer gives employers a 50-per-cent wage subsidy of up to $28,000 per year if they hire a young person
- The Treasurer said he wants to push the unemployment rate to 4.5 per cent in a bid to help lift wages and get inflation to between two and three per cent
- According to the latest government employment statistics, the unemployment rate currently sits at 5.6 per cent
The Morrison Government is set to extend its $1 billion JobTrainer scheme by another 12 months in Tuesday’s evening’s Federal Budget.
First introduced in March 2020, the program is designed to support free or low-fee training courses for Australians aged 17 to 24 or unemployed Australians looking for work.
JobTrainer was initially expected to expire on at the end of September last year but was extended in July. Now, the scheme is set to be extended for another 12 months, according to the ABC.
While the program is half-funded by states and territories — meaning an extension would have to be negotiated with state leaders — Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg suggested JobTrainer is set to an extension in the new budget in an interview with the ABC.
“JobTrainer has been a very successful program — more than 100,000 places already and that is helping equip people with the skills they need to find the work that they need,” the Treasurer said.
He also suggested that the existing apprenticeship program could be expanded given a stronger-than-anticipated take-up rate of the wage subsidy program.
“Let’s not also forget our wage subsidy for apprenticeships. We put in place a wage subsidy to support 100,000 apprentices thinking it will take 12 months or longer for them to get into work,” he said.
“We did that in five months, and we topped up that apprentice wage subsidy scheme.”
JobTrainer support
The JobTrainer program was designed to fund around 300,000 extra training places for young or unemployed Australians to hone their skills as they looked to join the workforce.
The program supported training for a myriad of roles ranging from aged and disability care to bricklaying to dental assistance to pharmacy technician work, and more.
The government supports hundred of training providers and technical and further education (TAFE) organisations around the country to offer specific courses either free or at a very low cost.
At the same time, the JobTrainer program gives employers a 50-per-cent wage subsidy of up to $28,000 per year if they hire a young person.
The purpose of the program is to incentive Australians to resell or upskill into areas that need support in the wake of COVID-19 and to encourage business to employ young people who may have otherwise been overlooked.
The Treasurer said the government wants to push the unemployment rate to 4.5 per cent in a bid to help lift wages and get inflation to a target of between two and three per cent.
According to the latest government employment statistics, the unemployment rate currently sits at 5.6 per cent.
Further details of the future of JobTrainer and other government programs will be outlined in the upcoming Federal Budget, slated for 7:30 pm AEST on Tuesday, May 11.
