Supporting the Tourism and Aviation Sectors’ Path to Recovery
Australia’s airlines, hotels and caravan parks, restaurants and bars, travel agents and tourism operators are set for a rush of hundreds of thousands of tourists as part of a new $1.2 billion support package from the Morrison Government. This package will support 800,000 half-price airfares to get Australians travelling and supporting tourism operators, businesses, travel agents and airlines who continue to do it tough through COVID-19 while our international borders remain closed. Read more here.
Supporting Thousands of new Apprentice and Trainee Jobs
Tens of thousands of new job opportunities will be created for apprentices and trainees across Australia with the expansion of the targeted wage subsidy program. The wage subsidy program is fully subscribed, helping to create 100,000 apprenticeships in less than five months. It is estimated that this expansion will generate around 70,000 new apprentice and trainee places, with the Government investing around $1.2 billion. Read more here.
Creating More STEM Opportunities for Australian Women
Up to 600 Australian women will be encouraged to study science, technology, engineering and maths while they are working, as part of an expansion of the Morrison Government’s Women in STEM Cadetships and Advanced Apprenticeships Program. The program provides grants to higher education providers to deliver a range of qualifications that employees can undertake part time alongside employment.A total of 37 STEM courses were approved in the recent application round including an Associate Degree of Engineering, Diploma of Applied Data Science, Advanced Diploma of Cyber Security, Diploma of Science and Associate Degree in Agribusiness. Read more here.
Helping Businesswomen Take on the World
The Morrison Government is supporting female entrepreneurs to build their businesses, take on global markets and create local jobs, with the opening of a new $11.6 million funding round under the Boosting Female Founders Initiative. The Boosting Female Founders Initiative provides grants of between $25,000 and $400,000 to Australian start-up businesses that are majority owned and led by women. In total, it will provide $52.2 million of competitive grant funding plus $1.8 million in mentoring services from 2020–2021 to 2024–25. Read more here.
Backing Bushfire Affected Communities with Wildlife and Habitat Support Grants
The Morrison Government is backing local communities hit by last year’s bushfires with $10 million in grants for wildlife and habitat recovery through hands on projects from setting up bee hotels and creating community nurseries, to cultural burning and installing nest boxes. Part of the Morrison Government’s $200 million bushfire recovery for wildlife and habitat package, the grants will fund 88 projects across New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. The full list of successful projects is available here.