Workforce

Mature age job seekers build skills with Career Transition Assistance program

Freya Lucas

Aug 28, 2020

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As Australia enters a recession, and battles with the economic impact of COVID-19, the jobs market has become increasingly competitive. For those with additional barriers to accessing the workforce, including being of mature age, further support is needed to build skills and confidence to remain competitive in the job market.

The Career Transition Assistance (CTA) program is supporting mature aged workers to access a range of supports thanks to additional recent funding and an expansion of the program to include people in online employment services.

More than 950 mature age workers (classed as those 45 years and older) enrolling this June. These new job seekers are the latest to benefit from the program and join the 5,800 participants who have enrolled in the CTA since the national expansion of the program in 2019.

CTA specialist providers help job seekers aged 45 years and over gain confidence using technology as well as improving their ability to look for, and apply for, jobs online, including roles in the early childhood education and care sector.

A core component of the CTA training program is to aid participants in identifying their existing skills, and how these may be best applied to different roles and industries, and builds confidence in using technology. It also gives participants an insight into their local job market and current opportunities to increase their opportunities to find work.

CTA providers have overcome the challenges of COVID-19 to deliver the program in a variety of new ways, including providing participants with devices, such as tablets, preloaded with content and coaching them over the phone to set up the device so they can do the CTA course online. Online and teleconference options have also been offered with platforms like Zoom and dedicated YouTube channels.

To learn more about the range of opportunities available in the CTA program, please see here

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