Government Funding & Incentives
The Queensland Government provides targeted investment through a number of different vocational education and training investment programs to assist industry and employers train and upskill their current and future workforce. These programs include;
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Certificate 3 Guarantee
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Skilling Queenslanders for Work
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Apprenticeships and Traineeships
Certificate 3 Guarantee
The Certificate 3 Guarantee supports eligible individuals to complete their first post-school certificate III level qualification and increase their skills to move into employment, re-enter the workforce or advance their career.
Are you eligible for the Certificate 3 Guarantee program?
The program is open to any Queensland resident aged 15 years or over who is no longer at school (with the exception of VET in Schools students) and is an Australian or New Zealand citizen or Australian permanent resident or a temporary resident with the necessary visa and work permits on the pathway to permanent residency.
Prospective students must not have or be enrolled in a certificate III level or higher qualification, not including qualifications completed at school and foundations skills training.
Contribution to Training Costs
Given the benefits that training provides to individuals, students undertaking certificate III or certificate IV level training are required to contribute to the costs of their training through a co-contribution fee. The amount of your out-of-pocket expense will vary depending on the course you undertake. The fee may be paid on your behalf by an employer or another third party.
Apprenticeship and Traineeships (User Choice)
The User Choice program provides a public funding contribution towards the cost of training and assessment services for eligible Queensland apprentices and trainees. The program aims to provide funding aligned to the skill needs of industry and respond to changing government priorities.
Not all apprenticeships and traineeships attract government funding. The government funding priority will determine the level of public funds contributed to training regardless of whether the qualification is an apprenticeship or traineeship.
Funding priority levels
The government funding priorities under the User Choice 2021-2023 policy:
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Priority One (100% subsidised) qualifications are those which lead to occupations deemed to be critical priorities in Queensland.
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Priority Two (87.5% subsidised) qualifications are those which lead to occupations not deemed critical in Queensland but considered as high priorities.
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Priority Three (75% subsidised) qualifications are those which lead to occupations not deemed critical in Queensland but considered as medium priorities.
The User Choice funding priorities are determined from national and state data in conjunction with industry input, and are reviewed annually.
Types of apprenticeships and traineeships
New entrant full-time or part-time:
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Full-time apprentices and trainees work and train full-time, usually from 36 to 38 hours a week.
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Part-time apprentices and trainees work and train no less than 15 hours per week, averaged over a four week cycle.
Adult and mature age
Apprenticeships and traineeships aren’t just for young people. Commencing an apprenticeship or traineeship is the same for all, no matter what age. As an older apprentice or trainee, you provide maturity, reliability, life experience and knowledge, not only to an employer but to other staff.
Furthermore, your existing skills and experience may provide you with credit and may reduce your training time. Even if you have never formally studied or trained in a particular area, you may have gained knowledge and skills through your education, training, work and life experience.
School Based
School-based apprentices and trainees undertake an apprenticeship or traineeship as part of their high school studies. A school-based apprentice or trainee’s employment and/or training arrangements must impact on their school timetable for the program to be considered school-based.
Existing workers
Existing workers with an active registration number commencement date or recommencement date from 1 January 2020 are eligible for funding when undertaking Priority One, Priority Two or Priority Three qualifications.
Existing workers with an active registration number commencement date or recommencement date up to 31 December 2019, irrespective of whether they belong to a PPG, are eligible for funding only when undertaking Priority One qualifications.
Are you eligible to do an apprenticeship or traineeship?
Individuals who are 13 years of age or older may be eligible to undertake an apprenticeship or traineeship in most occupations. However, Queensland legislation applies age restrictions to particular apprenticeships and traineeships.
Additionally to be eligible to undertake an apprenticeship or traineeship in Queensland you will need to;
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be an Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
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be employed with the workplace address in Queensland
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have regular working hours where the working hours (including supervised training) averages a minimum 15 hours per week* over each four week period for the length of the training contract