The Morrison Government will invest $2 billion into giving hundreds of thousands of Australians and more than 68,000 Queenslanders access to new skills by retraining and upskilling.
Federal Member for Wright, Scott Buchholz said the Government was working to make sure Australians, right across the country and here in the Scenic Rim, were able to transition to new sectors and get a job now and into the future.
“COVID-19 has hit our local economy hard, it has made a big dent in jobs. When lockdown restrictions were at their hardest, many small and family businesses, especially locals in the hospitality and tourism sectors of our economy, had to close their doors.
“That meant stand downs, layoffs and sadly many of those jobs have yet to come back on. As we recover from COVID-19, we want to make sure those workers can get back into work and make the most of new opportunities.
“While recent labour force figures from the ABS show that the easing of restrictions has resulted in some improvement in job numbers, with the level of employment increasing, we have a long way to go and many people, many families and many businesses are still struggling,” said Mr Buchholz.
Mr Buchholz said the immediate financial support measures that were put in place, such as JobSeeker and the $70 billion JobKeeper – were ensuring those families that had lost work, were able to pay their bills and put food on the table.
“While income support payments have been critical during this unprecedented time, they are not the solution to this COVID-19 induced crisis. We’ll continue to see targeted, proportionate and scalable income support – but we need to prepare people for a transition to new jobs.
“That is why our Liberal National Government has announced the JobTrainer skills package, providing training opportunities to people across the Scenic Rim, from Beechmont to Boonah and everywhere in between. This is about guaranteeing support for thousands of apprentices, subsidising their wages, keeping them in on the job training and easing the burden on business,” Mr Buchholz said.
Beaudesert employment consultant, Peta Payne of CIM Employment said that the work they were doing is about improving the capacity of locals for work.
“By providing holistic services to people with an injury or health conditions through return to work and job seeker support services, we support job seekers to upskill or reskill for alternative career paths.
“The Australian Government’s announcement not only provides essential funding to build and develop a job seekers’ skills, it provides great direction for sound career decisions with long term sustainable employment outcomes, this is overwhelmingly positive news.
“CIM Employment’s Beaudesert team is running a Job Seeker information stall at Beaudesert Fair Shopping Centre on Thursday July 23 – and we encourage job seekers to come along and speak with our friendly employment consultants about how we can help their search”.
The new $1 billion JobTrainer program will provide up to an additional 340,700 training places to help school leavers and job seekers access short and long courses to develop new skills in growth sectors and create a pathway to more qualifications.
Courses will be free or low cost in areas of identified need, with the Federal Government providing $500 million with matched contributions from state and territory governments.
Mr Buchholz said JobTrainer will ensure more Australians have the chance to reskill or upskill to fill the jobs on the other side of this crisis.
Background:
JobTrainer Fund
The investment of $1 billion will support around 340,700 new training places across Australia to give Australians access to new skills by retraining and upskilling them into sectors with job opportunities. The JobTrainer Fund will help school leavers and job seekers access pre-apprenticeships, short courses and full qualifications to develop new skills in growth sectors and create a pathway to more qualifications. Courses will be free or low cost in areas of identified need.
The Federal Government is providing $500 million with matched contributions from state and territory governments.
Expansion of the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees Wage subsidy:
The Morrison Government has committed an additional $1.5 billion to expand the wage incentive to help keep apprentices in work. More than 180,000 apprentices and 90,000 small and medium businesses that employ them will now be supported, with the program extended by six months to March 2021. The initiative covers 50 per cent of the wages paid to apprentices and trainees, up to $7,000 per quarter.
