A new pilot programme under the Youth Stream of the Industry Skills Fund is now open for applications.
The Training for Employment Scholarships Programme aims to deliver young skilled employees to businesses in regions where unemployment is high. This will be achieved by providing funding of up to $7,500 to micro, small and medium-sized businesses to send a new employee under the age of 25 to complete necessary training.
Training can include completing accredited and non-accredited, as well as foundation skills training. Accredited training courses can include Certificates I and II in Business, Retail, Hospitality and Construction. Non-accredited training courses can include attaining a certificate or licence such as responsible service of alcohol, a construction white card and a driver or forklift licence. Foundation skills courses can include courses in reading, writing, numeracy, problem solving, team work and computer skills.
Businesses that have less than 200 employees, who have hired an unemployed person between the ages of 18-24 after March 1 2015 within the selected regions, may be eligible for funding. The selected regions span every state. The selected regions in NSW include the Central Coast, the Hunter Valley (except Newcastle), Sydney’s outer west and the Blue Mountains. The selected regions in Queensland include Ipswich, the Sunshine Coast and Townsville. The selected regions in Victoria include West Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula. The selected regions in South Australia and Western Australia are North Adelaide and South West Perth respectively and the selected regions in Tasmania are Launceston & the North East.
More information on the Training for Employment Scholarships Programme, including fact sheets for businesses and youth employees can be found here.
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