Budget 2020: New ‘JobKeeper’ for young, jobless Aussies
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Around 450,000 Australians aged 16 to 35 will benefit from a new $4 billion wage subsidy scheme.
The Government unveiled its JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme, which plans to accelerate growth in employment during Australia’s economic recovery.
It follows the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data, which has the youth unemployment rate at 14.3 per cent - 2 per cent lower than it was in July, but still more than double the nation’s unemployment rate.
Here’s what’s in the Budget for young Aussies.
Wage subsidy
The Hiring Credit scheme will be available from 7 October and work like JobKeeper, giving employers cash for every eligible young person they hire.
For each eligible employee, employers will receive for up to 12 months:
$200 per week if they hire a young person aged 16 to 29; or
$100 per week if they hire a young person aged 30 to 35.
Young job seekers will have received JobSeeker, Youth Allowance or a Parenting Payment for at least one of the previous three months at the time of hiring.
To claim the JobMaker Hiring Credit, employers need to report their employees’ payroll information to the Australian Taxation Office through Single Touch Payroll.
Graduates
As of June, nearly half of all jobs that returned were for Australians aged 15 to 24.
However, with the unemployment rate for this cohort still more than double the nation’s rate, the Treasurer is committing $146 million to a range of programs to improve the educational outcomes of disadvantaged students and school leavers.
This is in addition to the Government’s $21.8 billion spend on school funding in 2020, and will grow to $34 billion by 2030.
The Government is also providing opportunities for students and recently unemployed Australians to retrain in areas of high demand via 50,000 higher education short courses.
It’s also investing a further $299 million to provide an additional 12,000 undergraduate university places in 2021.
Looking for a job?
The Government is committing $296 million towards a new Digital Employment Services platform and $183 million towards individualised support to online job seekers.
Young people needing specialised support more quickly will also have access to $21.9 million in assistance.
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