What incentives and personal assistance are available when hiring an Australian
Apprentice?
Australian Apprenticeships attract financial assistance for eligible
employers to help reduce the real cost of training.
Employers hiring an Australian Apprentice may be eligible for a range of
Australian Government and State Government incentives and personal
assistance starting
from $1250 for most employers for Certificate II – IV, together with some
targeted Diploma and Advanced Diploma qualifications.
Examples of employer incentives and personal assistance for Australian Apprentices are:
Other incentives and personal assistance for Australian Apprentices.
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Summary of Australian Government Incentives Programme
The following summarises the Australian Government Apprenticeships Incentives
regime for all Australian Apprentices (apprentices and trainees).
You can discuss eligibility for incentives with your local
Australian
Apprenticeships Centre.
The Government is committed to building Australia’s competitive advantage in
both emerging and traditional industries. To do this industry needs to have
access to people who can understand, apply and manage enabling technologies
considered crucial for innovation. Key sources of innovation include
pharmaceutical, aircraft, electronics and chemical industries, as well as the
major utilities.
The Innovation Incentive provides for an additional $1,100 incentive to be
paid on commencement in an identified occupation. Further information is
available from our brochures page.
Assistance to people with disabilities provides additional assistance to
eligible employers who recruit an Australian Apprentice with a disability. There are three
types of assistance for employers of Australian Apprentices with a disability.
Each form of assistance is intended to help Australian Apprentices with a
disability reach their full potential.
Disabled Australian
Apprentice Wage Support is available to an employer who currently employs an
Australian Apprentice with a disability and has been assessed as a person requiring assistance.
Evidence must be provided to support a claim for assistance.
An employer of an Australian Apprentice with a disability who satisfies the
eligibility criteria may receive wage support of either $104.30 (exclusive of
GST) for a full-time Australian Apprentice, or pro-rata amount for part
time Apprentices.
Assistance for
Tutorial, Interpreter and Mentor Services is payable directly to the
Registered Training Provider in respect of an Australian Apprentice with a
disability who has been assessed as eligible for Disabled Australian Apprentice
Wage Support and who requires additional assistance with off-the-job training.
An Australian Apprentice with a disability may attract this form of assistance
regardless of whether their employer receives Disabled Australian Apprentice
Wage Support.
Financial assistance available for tutorial services for an Australian
Apprentice is $38.50 an hour up to a maximum of $5,500 annually (inclusive of
GST); and for interpreter/mentor services, $38.50 an hour, up to a maximum of
$5,500 annually (inclusive of GST).
Workplace Modifications
Funding for necessary modifications to the workplace may be provided to
employers of Australian Apprentices who are disabled. These may include such
things as the purchase, lease or hire of equipment to help the Australian
Apprentice in their work. The employer may be reimbursed to a maximum amount of
$5,000 (GST exclusive) for each eligible Australian Apprentice.
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Australian School-based Apprenticeships Incentive
These incentives are designed particularly to support employers who provide
ongoing employment opportunities for Australian School-based Apprentices,
assisting them to make a smooth transition from school to work.
Employers may be eligible for an additional $750 (GST exclusive) commencement
incentive for employing an Australian Apprentice in an endorsed Australian
School-based Apprenticeship at Certificate II to IV level; and $750 (GST
exclusive) for continuing to employ the young person after the student has
completed Year 12.
The Australian Government has a broad commitment to providing support for
mature aged workers. Disadvantaged mature aged workers face particular barriers
to employment and training. Therefore an employer of a disadvantaged worker
(aged 45 years or older) may attract a special $750 Mature Aged Worker
Commencement Incentive and a $750 Mature Aged Worker Completion Incentive.
Other incentives and personal assistance for Australian Apprentices
The Australian Government, through the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives
Programme, provides a range of financial incentives to employers to open up
Australian Apprenticeships opportunities to people in their community,
particularly in rural and regional areas.
To boost training in rural and regional Australia the Government provides a
special commencement incentive of $1,000 for an employer in rural or regional
Australia who employs an Australian Apprentice in an eligible national skills
needs area at the Certificate III, IV or selected higher qualification. Examples
of some of the national skills needs qualifications include automotive,
community services, electrotechnology and engineering, furnishing and
construction and IT.
Rural and regional Australia comprises those workplace locations identified
on the Rural and Regional Eligible Workplace Postcodes list.
The workplace address as shown on the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives
Claim Form determines whether the Australian Apprentice satisfies this
criterion. Where a Group Training Organisation is the employer, the workplace
address for the purposes of this incentive is the host employer’s workplace
address.
Prolonged drought in a region has a direct effect on the training and employment
opportunities of that region. The Declared Drought Area incentive is aimed at
offsetting this potential crisis, to encourage primary producers who hold an
Exceptional Circumstances Drought Area Certificate to continue to offer skill
development and employment opportunities in a declared drought area.
The exceptional circumstances drought declared incentive $1,500 on
commencement and $1,500 on completion] applies to Certificate II rural,
agriculture and horticulture Australian Apprenticeships where the primary producer
holds the exceptional circumstances drought declared area certificate.
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Commonwealth Trade Learning Scholarships
The Commonwealth Trade Learning Scholarship provides two $500 tax exempt
payments to eligible Australian Apprentices on completion of each of the first
and second year of their skills needs trade Australian Apprenticeship. For more
information about who is eligible to receive the Scholarship, contact your
Australian Apprenticeships Centre.
Other assistance and incentives may be available from your
State or Territory
Training Authority.
The Tools For Your Trade Initiative provides up to $800 for the purchase of
trade tools for
eligible Australian Apprentices. More information is available from Tools For
Your Trade website at
www.toolsforyourtrade.com.au or
1800 557 875.
Youth Allowance (including Austudy for over
25s and ABSTUDY)
Australian Apprentices may be eligible for Youth Allowance (including Austudy
for over 25s and ABSTUDY). More information is available from Centrelink on 133
633.
Living Away From Home Allowance (LAFHA) provides assistance to eligible
Australian Apprentices in their first three years of training, if they have to
move away from their parents’ or guardians’ home in order to:
- take up a Australian Apprenticeship; or
- remain in a Australian Apprenticeship; or
- receive essential supplementary on-the-job training with another employer.
LAFHA is also paid where the Australian Apprentice is homeless.
How can I access Australian Government assistance and incentives ?
For information on how to access Australian Government assistance and the
full range of incentives employers may be eligible for, contact an
Australian
Apprenticeships Centre in your region.
ARCHIVE
2002 Review of the Commonwealth New Apprenticeships
Incentives Programme
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