Home > Blog > Aus Government Invest $2 Billion in Free & Low-Cost Training
The Federal Government has set aside $2 billion for new JobTrainer Skills Package in order to provide individuals with new skills and make upskilling into sectors which have richer job opportunities much more accessible, as we recover and prepare for a post COVID-19 economy.
New JobTrainer fund will supplement up to an additional 340,700 Vocational Education and Training placements to help Australian jobseekers develop new skills and obtain further qualifications to open new pathways into employment. Specifically and most remarkably, the government have reserved $500 million of that fund to provide free or low-cost courses in skilled areas deemed as in need, with state and territory governments providing matching contributions. This will profoundly benefit the tens of thousands of people looking for new employment opportunities and the sectors and businesses employing them that are all suffering oppressive financial difficulty as a national bid to drive forward the keen recovery of the economy post COVID-19.
As well as this, the fund pledges an additional $1.5 billion to expand the wage subsidiary incentive to help keep apprentices in their work placements and their training ongoing by funding their wages so their employers don’t have to. This will support 180,000 apprentices and 90,000 small and medium sized businesses keeping these apprentices in employment throughout Australia, as a huge financial relief where cuts would have otherwise been made.
The Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Michaelia Cash, stated the JobTrainer package would be a critical part to play in facilitating the national road to economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.
“Our nation has faced many challenges, and it is critical that we keep our apprentices in jobs and help those looking for work,” she said. “This package will be essential as the economy rebuilds so that people looking for work can reskill and upskill for in-demand jobs, provide school leavers with a pathway into their careers, and ensure businesses are able to get the skilled workers they need.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison had previously admitted that the current skills and training system needed an overhaul and attention to be able to best prepare Australia’s workforce of the future and the productivity of the nation. The PM added that the JobTrainer package would ensure Australians have the contingency if they wish to reskill or upskill to fill the employment opportunities of a post-COVID-19 economy.
“COVID-19 is unprecedented, but I want Australians to be ready for the sorts of jobs that will come as we build back and recover,” he said. “The jobs and skills we’ll need as we come out of the crisis are not likely to be the same as those that were lost.”
The package comes as a welcomed relief for many jobseekers and employers as we rebuild and heal as a renewed and adapted nation succeeding the crisis.
Written by Sophie Cunningham; 1st September 2020
