NEW incentives are now available to help local businesses hire extra staff under the Federal Government’s jobactive PaTH Program (Prepare – Trial – Hire), Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch has announced today.
The news comes as jobseekers and employers from around the region are invited to a Youth Jobs Boot Camp, where they can find out everything they need to know about the various government programs being rolled out from April 2017 to help tackle our region’s high youth unemployment.
The new wage subsidies are a key component of the jobactive PatH program, which will see up to 120,000 vulnerable young Aussies gain the skills and work experience they need to get – and keep – a job, as well as enabling employers to trial prospective workers before hiring them.
jobactive PaTH will:
• Prepare young people through industry-focused training to develop their basic work skills in the workplace, at no cost to the employer.
• Trial them, with $1000 available to businesses that help young people gain experience through a 4-12 week internship. The internships are voluntary, so either party can withdraw if it does not work out. Participants also receive a $200 fortnightly incentive payment funded by Government on top of their income support.
• Hire the young person, with an additional payment of up to $10,000 to employers, contributing to the ongoing training and development of their new employee.
Mr Entsch welcomed the three stages of the program and said the financial incentives will make a difference for local employers who are thinking about hiring a young person.
“Employers tell me that they want to take on young people, but lack applicants with the right skills and work experience,” he said. “At the same time, the two biggest barriers preventing young people from entering the workforce are their level of education and lack of experience.
“The ‘Prepare’ stage will address this by making sure they have the basic skills expected in a workplace and an understanding about where a career in a particular industry could take them.
“The financial incentives in the ‘Trial’ and ‘Hire’ stages will encourage businesses to give a young person a go; the program is flexible and can be adapted to meet their individual needs.”
Any businesses wishing to register their interest can visit https://www.jobsearch.gov.au/path
The jobactive PaTH Program complements a range of other Federal Government initiatives which will be highlighted at the Youth Jobs Boot Camp on April 10th including Empowering YOUth initiatives and the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme.
The NEIS is about encouraging self-employment and entrepreneurship, through tools such as SelfStart online and ‘Exploring being my own Boss’ workshops. Cairns’ new Entrepreneurship Facilitator, Tara Diversi, is also available to help potential entrepreneurs set up their own business.
“We’ll have a Department of Employment representative to run through the various programs, and Tara Diversi will talk about her new role. We’ll also hear from a jobactive provider who deals directly with both young people and employers,” Mr Entsch said.
“At the end of the day, we really want to see locals making the most of the support that’s available because persistent high levels of youth unemployment are a social and economic constraint on our future prosperity.”
The Youth Jobs Boot Camp is on from 2.00pm on Monday 10th April at Cazalys Cairns, on Mulgrave Rd.
Anyone wishing to attend can RSVP to Mr Entsch’s office on 4051 2220 or email warren.entsch.mp@aph.gov.au