The Federal Budget and the Opportunities for Young Learners in Australia

The Aussie government is extending the JobTrainer fund, designed to help young people upskill and secure employment in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A further $500 million will go towards another 163,000 places over the next two years, until December 31 2022. This additional funding means that more people have the opportunity to upskill with free or low fee courses, to promote employability in a post-COVID world.

You can find out more about JobTrainer here.

Out of the 163,000 new JobTrainer training places, 33,800 of these will support existing and new care workers to improve their qualifications.

This Budget has also defined better provider regulation and worker screening as a priority. This means that carers will be better-equipped to work across the sector and further develop their careers, which will help to meet the sector’s need for more jobs.

The disability sector has been deemed a priority area, with $13.2 billion allocated to helping the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). This funding will go on to support thousands of disability care workers.

An extra $2.7 billion has also been allocated to the ‘Boosting Apprenticeships Commencements’ scheme.

This funding will be spent over four years, creating 170,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships. Employers will be reimbursed for up to 50% of new apprentice and trainee wages.

The scheme is set to fight the fall in apprenticeship and trainee employment post-pandemic, paving the way for economic recovery and bolstering employment rates.

There are also talks of supporting digital apprentices and trainees in industries such as cybersecurity, data analytics, animation and game design with a $10.7 million trial of a digital skills cadetship.

• The care sector
• Apprenticeships and traineeships