The Federal Government’s Boosting Apprentices Commencement (BAC) wage subsidy now run until September this year. The BAC sees the Federal Government pays for half of an apprentice’s or trainee’s wages, up to $7000 per quarter, and has been offered since October 2020 and has now been extended by six months until September 30 2021. Source: Timberbiz
The extension of the BAC though an injection of a further $1.2 billion has been welcomed by the Housing Industry Association.
The HIA had called on the Federal Government to ensure the class of 2020 was “not left behind in these difficult times”.
“The first tranche of the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy program is fully subscribed, helping to create 100,000 apprenticeships in less than five months. This is a commendable outcome and should be recognised,” HIA Chief Executive – Industry Policy Kristin Brookfield.
“Updating the program to remove the cap and be demand-driven and to expand the payments to cover a full 12 months for new apprentices and trainees signed up prior to 30 September 2021 will see these early benefits grow and jobs created.
“It is estimated that this extension will support hundreds of thousands of small businesses across Australia take on new apprentices and trainees over the next six months,” she said.
“The $2.8 billion already provided for this wage subsidy has made a significant difference for the housing industry and supported many new apprentices since October start their study and training.”
In under five months, the target of 100,000 new starters had been realised. Taken together with the support for existing apprentices and trainees already in a job before COVID-19, this meant more than 222,000 apprentices and trainees were being supported by the wage subsidy programs.
“As JobKeeper and other business supports reach an end in March there is a risk to keeping existing trainees and apprentices in a job. Ensuring apprentices who were in training before COVID-19 also continue to be supported throughout 2021 is also critical.”
