Assistant Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham has announced that Australian businesses can now apply for support to boost the skills of their workforce under the Abbott Governments new Industry Skills Fund.
The $476 million Fund, which will provide up to 200,000 training places and skills advice for businesses over the next four years, is a key element of the Abbott Government’s Industry Innovation and Competitiveness Agenda aimed at lifting the quality of both training providers and their courses.
“This is a new way of providing support to businesses that need to upskill or retrain their employees to enable their business to grow, diversify, adopt new technologies, or take advantage of new market opportunities,” said Senator Birmingham.
“For the first time, employers will be supported to decide what training is needed in their business, and which training provider they want to work with, to boost their business productivity and competitiveness.”
According to the media release by Minister Birmingham, the fund will prioritise small and medium-sized businesses, including micro businesses, as well as businesses looking to grow in the sectors in which Australia enjoys a competitive advantage, such as advanced manufacturing, food and agribusiness, medical technology, mining equipment, and oil, gas and energy resources.
Mr Birmingham said the program will enhance the employment prospects of students and the competitiveness of Australia’s economy.
“In contrast, Labor wasted billions of dollars on skills programmes that failed to deliver training that led to real jobs. The era of training for training’s sake is over,” he said.
Businesses wanting support to train workers will be required to make a contribution between 25 and 75% to the cost of training. The co-contribution rate depends on the number of employees, with smaller businesses receiving higher levels of support. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis, throughout the year.
Guidelines and more information are available at www.business.gov.au
