Queensland school leavers and job seekers will benefit from increased access to free or low-fee skills training under a significant investment through the JobTrainer Agreement to be rolled out across Queensland.
Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, said strengthening Australia’s skills and training system is a priority as the nation responds to COVID-19.
The $1 billion JobTrainer program will provide up to an additional 340,700 training places across the country for school leavers and help upskill and retrain jobseekers in areas of demand.
“JobTrainer is central to Australia’s recovery from COVID-19. It will provide Australians with new opportunities and skills to get a job” Minister Cash said.
“It is a significant joint investment by the Commonwealth and State and Territory Governments.”
The Queensland agreement will inject an extra $201 million into the state’s vocational education and training sector.
The Australian Government will contribute $100.5 million, which will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Queensland Government.
Member for Longman Terry Young said this is a fantastic result for Queensland which will really help job seekers and young people, especially school leavers.
“The JobTrainer Fund will help lift Queensland as the state recovers from COVID-19,” Mr Young said.
“This will help people in my electorate of Longman upskill and reskill for the industries that are in-demand and are looking for more staff.”
Minister Cash said JobTrainer is part of the Australian Government’s $6.5 billion investment in Vocational Education and Training in 2020-21.
“As part of this investment the Commonwealth is also providing additional support with the Supporting Apprentices and Trainees (SAT) wage subsidy, which has provided more than $500 million to employers across Australia since April this year.
“As part of the SAT the Government has invested $102.89 million to assist 10,461 employers to retain 17,290 apprentices and trainees in Queensland.”
For more information about JobTrainer visit: https://www.dese.gov.au/jobtrainer-fund.