Skilling Queenslanders for Work : employer funding available

14 March, 2017

Funding is now available for eligible employers under the Queensland Government’s Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative. There are a number of incentives available, including:


Work Start incentives - $10,000 per apprentice or trainee

Work Start is available to private sector employers who sign up an eligible worker* as a trainee or an apprentice after 1 July 2016.

A one-off incentive payment of $10,000 is payable per eligible apprentice or trainee after three months of employment.


First Start - $12,500 per trainee

First Start is available to local councils who hire eligible QLD school leavers or disadvantaged job seekers to complete a nationally recognised qualification as a trainee.

A wage subsidy of $12,500 is payable per eligible trainee.

The program was developed to provide disadvantaged Queenslanders with the qualifications and skills they require to enter and stay in the workforce, and to assist eligible employers with the cost of training new apprentices and trainees.


Act now to take advantage of Skilling Queenslanders for Work funding.

Contact us today – complete this form and we’ll be in touch to sign up your new or existing workers now so you can take advantage of Skilling Queenslanders for Work funding before it’s too late.

Further eligibility criteria apply. Find out more about Skilling Queenslanders for Work funding here.

*Work Start incentives - an eligible worker is someone who meets all of the following criteria:

  • has undertaken a project under the Community Work Skills, Work Skills Traineeships, Get Set for Work, Ready for Work or Youth Skills programs
  • is registered in a Queensland declared traineeship or apprenticeship
  • has commenced the traineeship or apprenticeship no more than six months after their exit date from a relevant Skilling Queenslanders for Work program
  • has not displaced an existing worker
  • has completed three months (defined as 91 days) of employment in the traineeship or apprenticeship

*Work Start incentives will be available to private sector employers ineligible for the employer support payments under Back to Work as follows:

  • located in the following 12 local government areas: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, Noosa, Redlands, Scenic Rim, Somerset, Sunshine Coast and Toowoomba
  • located in regional Queensland and eligible for Queensland’s Apprentice Trainee rebate for payroll tax.

Work Start incentives will be available throughout South East Queensland, however, it is a demand driven program and will be capped in 2016–17, to 300 incentive payments. Guidelines available here.