Small to medium sized business are set to get a cash incentive when hiring a new apprentice or trainee in Western Australia, to help the state create 150,000 extra jobs by 2023-24.
Up to $8500 is available for employers who hire an apprentice or new entrant trainee, and who have lodged the training contract for registration after 1 July 2019.
Employers will be eligible if they hire new entrant trainees or are employers of apprentices below the payroll tax threshold (currently at $850,000 per year). Group training organisations, local government and government trading enterprises and not-for profit organisations are also eligible for the incentive.
State and Federal Government agencies, employers of existing worker trainees, employers of apprentices and trainees who live outside WA and employers who received incentive payments from the Construction Training Fund will not be eligible.
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Depending on a few factors, it is possible to earn even more from the incentive, with an additional 20 per cent available for employers that hire apprentices or trainees that live and work in the top end of WA. Additional funding is available for recruits who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, have a disability or are aged between 21 and 30.
Employers will be able to claim incentive payments after an apprentice commences work, during the midpoint of the nominal duration of the apprenticeship and upon completion. For trainees, employers can claim the incentive on the commencement of the traineeship and upon completion.
The news follows a recent reduction in TAFE fees for civil construction courses to improve skills for the METRONET rail project in Perth.
“As a Government, we are doing everything we can to make TAFE more accessible to young Western Australians so they can get the skills they need to enter the workforce,” said Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery.