Support for employing older workers
The websites below contain information to help you find, employ and train older workers.
Wage Subsidy
Financial incentives of up to $10,000 are available to encourage businesses to hire and retain eligible mature age employees who are 50 years of age or over. Payments are made by employment services providers to businesses over six months. Employers can negotiate how often they receive the payments.
Skills Checkpoint
Your mature-aged workers bring enormous experience and value to your organisation. However, sometimes staff skills don’t match future business requirements. Working with you, this free service can identify how additional skills can assist eligible participants to continue to add value or to transition into new roles in your organisation. Your employees could qualify for a training incentive under the program, covering a maximum co-contribution of between 50% and 75% with the maximum amount of up to $2,200 towards a course to reskill them for a new role or up-skill them in their current role. The 75% rebate applies to courses relating to the National Skills Commission Skills Priority List.
Support for employing mature aged apprentices and trainees
To reduce the impact of coronavirus on the employment of apprentices, the Australian Government is paying small and medium businesses (businesses with fewer than 200 employees) 50 per cent of the wages of apprentices and trainees employed as at 1 July 2020 up to $7,000 per quarter.
The Mature Aged Workers Commencement Incentive is available to employers who start a new or existing Australian Apprentice who is a disadvantaged person aged 45 years or more in a Certificate II or higher level qualification.
Other wage support
Workers who aged over 45 might be part of another category that attracts wage subsidies. These subsidies are available for businesses that hire eligible new employees who:
- are Indigenous
- are a parent
- have a disability
- have been unemployed for 12 months or more.
Funding for training and workforce development
This Skills Tasmania web page covers Tasmanian Government, Australian Government and industry programs targeted directly at employers and industry to support training and workforce development. It also summarises programs available to support businesses employing apprentices and trainees. These range from incentives paid by the Australian Government through Apprenticeship Network Providers and State Government grants paid to employers employing new workers in targeted industries.
Workforce Australia – help for employers to find staff
Workforce Australia connects job seekers with employers.