Boosting Apprenticeships Commencement (BAC) wage subsidy is a new wage subsidy announced by the federal government to assist apprentices and trainees who are eligible for the wage subsidy to complete their qualifications. The Completing Apprenticeship Commencements (CAC) scheme, worth $716 million, would give qualifying employers with a subsidy of up to 10 percent of an Australian Apprentice or trainee’s gross pay in their second year of work, and 5 percent in their third year, depending on their business needs.
These subsidies are limited to a total of $1,500 per quarter (paid in arrears) per apprentice or trainee in their second year, and $750 per quarter in their third year, per apprentice or trainee. Employers of apprentices or trainees who are registered with and entitled to receive the BAC wage subsidy are the only ones who can benefit from the subsidies. Registration for the BAC expires on March 31, 2022.
Under the new changes from October 2021, eligible employers will receive a 10 per cent wage subsidy in the second year of an eligible apprenticeship, and five per cent in the third year. The Morrison Government’s investment is expected to continue to support the 270,000 anticipated commencements under the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements program from October 2020 to March 2022.
Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, Stuart Robert, said the new Completing Apprenticeship Commencements program will help maintain a pipeline of skilled workers right across the economy with 348,200 Australians training as at June 2021, 30 per cent more than the previous 12 months.
‘The Morrison Government has supported a generation of Australian apprentices in the face of the biggest shock to our economy since World War Two,’ Minister Robert said.
‘While other countries shed their apprentice workforces, our highly successful Boosting Apprenticeship Commencement program saw new apprenticeships increase 141.5 per cent year on year.
‘The Morrison Government is now protecting the pipeline of apprentices today so they become the skilled workforce of tomorrow through the Completing Apprenticeship Commencements program, giving employers the confidence to retain an apprentice in their second and third years of training right through to completion.
‘Securing the skilled workforce of tomorrow through the Completing Apprenticeship Commencements program is in addition to a record $6.4 billion investment in skills this financial year, including a $500 million expansion of the JobTrainer Fund, which recently hit more than 230,000 course enrolments.’
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