Federal Budget 2016: Focus on Youth Unemployment

The Federal Government Budget announcement included a $752 million Youth Jobs PaTH (Prepare-Trial-Hire) Programme targeting vulnerable young people and will see thousands involved in internship programs and job training.

From 1 April 2017, Youth Jobs PaTH will help young people prepare for a job through intensive pre-employment skills training.

Stage one of the program delivers intensive pre-employment skills training. In stage two, the  participants will take part in an internship program with up to 120,000 placements over four years. The job seekers will receive $200 per fortnight on top of their regular income support payment while participating in the internship.

Businesses that take on interns will receive an upfront payment of $1,000, and will benefit from the opportunity to see what a young worker can do and how they fit in to the team before deciding whether to offer them ongoing employment.

CEO BUSY At Work Paul Miles said the program provided opportunity to deliver credible employment pathways for businesses and job seekers.

“The program encourages employers to give our young job seekers a chance through financial assistance and training support.  Further to this it helps our youth get their foot in the door and learn the necessary work ready skills our employers expect them to have. It also provides flexibility for businesses to employ our youth either through a standard labour hire arrangement or combined with an apprenticeship or traineeship,” Mr Miles said.

CoAct CEO Matt Little said the decision to focus on young job seekers was a positive step by the Government.

“For young people, the task of finding a job is about much more than just going along to interviews and sending out a resume. They might be dealing with low self-esteem, or a lack of confidence after a number of rejections, for example. Or they may lack the skills, training or certification to fit in with certain workplaces. It’s important to take the time to get to know the individual job seeker, identify any barriers they might have to work, and help them to overcome these so they can take the first step into gainful employment and go on to have a mutually beneficial relationship with their employer.

At stage three, employers who hire an eligible young job seeker in an ongoing job will receive an accelerated wage subsidy of up to $10,000, paid over six months through simpler and more flexible arrangements.

Changes to Work for the Dole

Unemployed people struggling to find work will now wait longer to enter the Work for the Dole phase.

From 1 October 2016, the most job-ready job seekers, classified as ‘stream A’ will commence the Work for the Dole phase after spending 12 months in jobactive services, instead of the current requirement of six months.

Lowering the tax burden on enterprise

From the 1 July this year, businesses with a turnover less than $10 million will receive a reduction in their tax rate to 27.5 per cent. This will deliver a lower tax rate for around 870,000 companies who employ over 3.4 million workers.

The company tax rate for all companies will decrease to 25 per cent over the next ten years

Mr Miles welcomed the corporate tax cuts, “We hope that the tax cuts will boost employment by small and medium businesses and encourage them to grow their workforce through hiring apprentices,” Mr Miles said.

For more information on the Jobs and Small Business information click here.