Wage support extended for ECEC approved providers with apprentices and trainees

A new program from the Australian Government is extending the wage supports and subsidies available to those who employ second and third year apprentices or traineeships, including employers in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector.

Eligible employers who are currently in receipt of the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements (BAC) wage subsidy will have support extended for the second and third year of a BAC supported apprenticeship through the new Completing Apprenticeship Commencements program. 

This, the Government hopes, will give employers the confidence to retain their apprentice or trainee right through to completion, providing them with a rewarding career path into the future, while tackling the nation’s skills shortage, which is especially acute in an ECEC context.

Under Completing Apprenticeship Commencements, eligible employers will receive a wage subsidy of ten per cent of wages paid to an eligible apprentice or trainee in the second year of their apprenticeship, to a maximum of $1,500 per quarter per apprentice. 

In the third year, eligible employers will also receive a wage subsidy of five per cent of wages paid to an eligible apprentice or trainee to a maximum of $750 per quarter per apprentice.

The Completing Apprenticeship Commencements program began on 5 October 2021. Businesses or Group Training Organisations (GTOs) may be eligible if:

• an Australian Apprentice or trainee was engaged in work between 5 October 2020 and 31 March 2022; and 
• the Australian Apprentice or trainee is undertaking their second or third year of a Certificate II or higher qualification AND has a training contract that is formally approved by the state training authority.

Payments will be made quarterly in arrears into the employer’s nominated bank account. Final claims for payment must be lodged by 30 June 2025.

Further information is available here.