Apprenticeships and traineeships

Skilling South Australians

The Skilling South Australians initiative, for which the 2018-19 budget provided $202.6 million over four years for participation by the state in the National Partnership Agreement on the Skilling Australians Fund, supports the uptake of apprenticeships and traineeships in areas of industry need. The initiative has been allocated $38.2 million (co-funded in line with the Agreement with $16.3 million from the Commonwealth and $21.9 million by the state) in 2020-21 (Budget paper 4: Agency statement volume 3, p. 123; 2018-19 Budget Measures Statement, p. 101).

Government Supported Traineeships and Apprenticeships

Building on the previously announced Skilling SA Public Sector Project that will support more than 2,600 participants to undertake a vocational qualification in the South Australian public sector over four years (up to June 2022), additional funding of $32 million has been allocated to agencies over four years. The additional funding will support a further 750 traineeship and apprenticeship places in government agencies and funded projects, in qualifications that are assessed as having high growth potential including cyber security, aged care, disability services, and housing construction (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, p. 13; Media releases, 19 July 2019).

Apprentice and trainee payroll tax exemption

Under the Business and Jobs Support Fund, $5.7 million has been allocated to provide the equivalent to a 12 month payroll tax exemption for wages paid to eligible new apprentices and trainees who commence a relevant contract of training with an employer from 10 November 2020 to 30 June 2021 (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, p. 7).

Employment

Bushfire Response - Small Business Disaster Transformation and Growth Program

$1.5 million over three years, beginning in 2019-20 and jointly funded with the Commonwealth Government under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements, has been allocated for transformation and growth programs in bushfire affected areas including the establishment of a business hub on Kangaroo Island, first response financial counselling and tailored training and development for small business. This measure forms part of the $305 million Bushfire Response and Recovery Package (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, p. 99; Budget paper 1: Budget overview, p. 6).

Workforce Mobility Measures

$3.2 million has been allocated in 2020-21 under the Workforce Mobility Measures initiative for critical workforce mobility measures in response to COVID-19. It will support the development and pilot of micro-credential training in priority sectors and also includes funding for the development of suitable online platforms. The initiative forms part of the Community and Jobs Support Fund (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, p. 103).

Industry

Business and Jobs Support Fund

The $300 million Business and Jobs Support Fund was announced in March 2020. $230 million has subsequently been added, bringing the total value to $530 million. The fund assists individual businesses and industry sectors facing potential collapse and the loss of thousands of jobs due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19. It includes the Apprentice and trainee payroll tax exemption (see the Apprenticeships and traineeships section above for more information) and the allocation of the contribution for the JobTrainer National Partnership Agreement by the state - see the Training Providers and programs section below for more information (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, pp. 7-8).

Community and Jobs Support Fund

In March 2020, as part of its second economic stimulus package, the government announced the establishment of a $250 million Community and Jobs Support Fund. The government has subsequently added a further $15 million to the fund, bringing the total value of the fund to $265 million. The fund assists community organisations, such as sporting, arts and recreational bodies, non-profit organisations and some other industry sectors. It will also help with training South Australians seeking new skills and employment and to assist organisations to meet increased demand for services, including emergency relief. The fund includes Workforce Mobility Measures - see the Employment section above for more information (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, pp. 8-9).

Economic and Business Growth Fund

The Economic and Business Growth Fund was originally established as part of the 2018-19 budget to promote economic growth in South Australia by encouraging growth of existing industries, developing new industries, building international connections, and attracting foreign and national direct investment. In addition to this $100 million initial investment, $220 million has been allocated over the next four years to expand the fund with $60 million provided in each of 2020-21 and 2021-22, and $50 million in 2022-23 and 2023-24. The fund includes the Resource engineering scholarships initiative - see the Training providers and programs section below for more information (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, pp. 12-13).

Charter boat licence holders training

The Department of Primary Industries and Regions will provide funding to the Tourism Industry Council of South Australia to provide training to charter boat licence holders to improve their tourism industry knowledge and digital presence (Budget paper 4: Agency statements volume 4, p. 67).

National Agreements

In 2020-21, the Australian Government will provide estimated funding of $159 million to support the state's and skills and workforce development services through the National Skills and Workforce Development Specific Purpose Payment (SPP) and National Partnership and Project payments.

National Skills and Workforce Development Specific Purpose Payment

South Australia has been allocated $106.2 million under the National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development for 2021-22 (Budget paper 3: Budget statement, p. 49).

National Partnership Payments

• $16.3 million for the Skilling Australians Fund (Budget paper 4: Agency statement volume 3, p. 123).
• $34.5 million over 2 years for the JobTrainer Fund, to be matched by the state (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, pp. 50 and 101).
• $4.48 million over 2 years ($2 million in 2020-21) through Revitalising TAFE campuses across Australia (Budget paper 4: Agency statements volume 4, p. 93).

$2.8 million was received in the 2019-20 financial year from the Commonwealth under the Project Agreement for the National Infection Control Training to support the accelerated uptake of the new nationally accredited Infection Prevention and Control Training skills set (or equivalent nationally accredited training), for customer-facing employees in any industry (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, p. 101).

Training providers and programs

JobTrainer National Partnership Agreement

The $88 million (rounded) over two years for the JobTrainer initiative provided in the 2020-21 budget is composed of two elements. The measure includes $68.9 million ($31.7 million in 2020-21) co-funded by the Australian Government ($34.5 million) and the state. As part of the Business and Jobs Support Fund, the budget allocates an additional $19.0 million over two years ($5.6 million in 2020-21 and $13.5 million in 2021-22) for the Department for Innovation and Skills to leverage the JobTrainer initiative to maximise employment outcomes for the recovery of the South Australian economy. The state's contribution to this initiative has been funded from the Business and Jobs Support Fund (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, p. 101).

Resource engineering scholarships

The Resource engineering scholarships initiative provides $1.1 million over five calendar years ($110 000 in 2020-21) towards the establishment of a $2.0 million six year scholarship program in partnership with the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy and the Playford Memorial Trust to support around 100 students undertaking a resources-related engineering course. This initiative has been funded from the Economic and Business Growth Fund (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, p. 54).

Additional Resources for TAFE SA

The Additional Resources for TAFE SA initiative provides additional resources of $45.4 million in 2019-20 and $54.2 million in 2020-21 to TAFE SA in response to lower forecasts for external revenue growth and delays in the identification of efficiency measures (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, p. 130).

TAFE SA investment program

TAFE SA will receive $2 million under the Project Agreement for Revitalising TAFE campuses across Australia in 2020-21. It forms part of the total $13.4 million estimated for the 2020-21 TAFE SA investment program for improving the TAFE SA digital environment and access to training; providing modern and compliant training environments; updating teaching plant and equipment required for industry ready skills, and maintaining asset value through the asset lifecycle replacement programs (Budget paper 4: Agency statements volume 4, p. 91).

Additional support for the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector during COVID-19

The budget reprofiles expenditure from 2020-21 into 2019-20 by the Department of Innovation and Skills to primarily support the VET Market Continuity Package. The package of up to $16 million provided assistance to non-government training providers impacted by COVID-19 and consisted of a once-off investment to enable training providers to put in place delivery modes and technology to support training, students and employers, and also continued subsidy payments at pre-COVID activity levels for a period of three months up until June 2020 (Budget paper 5: Budget measures statement, p. 98; Media releases, 4 April 2020).