Australia announced its Budget for 2021 yesterday which includes a Digital Economy Strategy, tax cuts to create jobs, and expanding apprenticeship programmes.

The government said it is making significant investments in digital infrastructure to support Australian businesses and workers. The government is investing in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to build a ‘digitally enabled Australian workforce and small business community.’

“The government is investing over AUD 100 million (USD 78.0 million) in initiatives to build the digital skills of Australians to meet the needs of the modern Australian workplace,” the government stated.

On the employment front, the government announced it is investing a further AUD 481.2 million in the Transition to Work employment service to ‘ensure young Australians have the best opportunity to secure employment.’ This specialist youth employment service helps unemployed Australians aged 15-24 move into work or education and since 2016 has provided assistance to over 145,000 young Australians. It is also investing AUD 213.5 million (USD 166.7 million) to extend and expand the Local Jobs Program to all 51 employment regions across Australia.

Australia’s government is also investing AUD 4.6 billion (USD 3.6 billion) to assist vulnerable unemployed Australians into jobs and boost labour market participation. It is increasing wage subsidies available through jobactive, Transition to Work and ParentsNext to AUD 10,000 (GST (goods and services tax inclusive) (USD 7,805). “This will provide eligible job seekers, including youth, single parents, and the long-term unemployed, with greater opportunities to move into work and participate in the economic recovery,” the Budget stated.

Furthermore, the Budget also includes measures to encourage self-employment.

“Reforms and additional funding of AUD 129.8 million for the New Business Assistance with New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS), Exploring Being My Own Boss Workshops and Entrepreneurship Facilitators will make self-employment support more flexible and easier for job seekers and existing micro-business owners to access,” the government stated.

The government is also piloting a new Remote Jobs Program in three sites to inform future support for job seekers in remote parts of Australia.

On the skills front, the government is investing AUD 6.4 billion (USD 4.9 billion) in 2021‑22 to build the skills that Australia’s economy needs to thrive in a post-Covid-19 world.

The Government said it will commit an additional AUD 500 million, to be matched by state and territory governments, to expand the JobTrainer Fund by a further 163,000 places and extend the program until 31 December 2022. The Fund will support training in digital skills and upskilling in critical industries like aged care.

The JobTrainer Fund was launched in 2020 and will support hundreds of thousands of job seekers, school leavers and young people by providing access to free or low-fee training places in areas of skills shortages. The government is also spending an additional AUD 2.7 billion (USD 2.1 billion) to extend the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements program.

Furthermore, the Budget announced that the government will ‘develop a new digital skills cadetship to ensure training in digital skills is relevant, timely and meets the needs of our economy.’ It will provide AUD 10.7 million to trial up to four industry-led pilots to develop new pathways to build high level digital skills.

The government also announced it is delivering a further AUD 7.8 billion (USD 6.08 billion) in personal income tax cuts to support household income and generate more activity, supporting jobs growth.

Simon Yeung, General Manager Melbourne, Talent International, commented on the Budget announcement, “The AUD 100 million (USD 78.0 million) devoted to developing digital skills in the workforce is unlikely to flow through to the supply of skilled labour for the above increase in demand but may assist with long term skilled labour supply. A larger factor in the labour supply challenges in the IT market is the absence of approximately 100,000 skilled workers arriving in Australia each year, primarily from countries such as India, which is exacerbating the shortage of IT workers to meet ever growing demand.”

Robert Ning, Talent General Manager, Canberra, said, “Overall, I believe the budget to a be a big winner for employment in many different sectors, with an emphasis on science and technology. With International borders not scheduled to open any time soon and the inability for employers to attract an overseas workforce, we will only see a continued increase in demand for more locally skilled people.”