Federal Budget May 2024-25: Jobs and education

The Budget is heavily focused toward funding initiatives for Jobs and Education. Key initiatives include the ‘Future Made in Australia’ program, enhancement to the government-funded paid parental leave scheme, employment services reform and reforms targeted towards Closing the Gap for Indigenous Australians.

Future made in Australia - workforce and trade partnerships

The Government will provide $218.4 million over eight years from 2023–24 (and $1.3 million per year ongoing) to support a Future Made in Australia through the development of a skilled and diverse workforce and trade partnerships. Funding includes:

$91 million over five years from 2023–24 (and an additional $0.6 million over three years from 2028–29) to support the development of the clean energy workforce, including through addressing vocational education and training sector trainer workforce shortages, and funding new and existing training facility upgrades across a range of clean energy occupations;
$55.6 million over four years from 2024–25 to establish the Building Women’s Careers program to drive structural and systemic change in work and training environments. The program will fund partnerships between training providers, community organisations, employers, and unions to improve women’s access to flexible, safe and inclusive work and training opportunities;
$38.2 million over eight years from 2023–24 (and $1.3 million per year ongoing) to provide funding for a range of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs to increase diversity in STEM education and industries;
$14.3 million over four years from 2024–25 to improve the competitiveness of the Australian economy by working with trade partners to support global rules on unfair trade practices and to negotiate benchmarks for trade in high quality critical minerals;
$10 million in 2025–26 to establish a National Hydrogen Technology Skills Training Centre, in partnership with the Victorian Government, to promote hydrogen workforce development to support the skilled workforce needs of the growing domestic hydrogen industry; and
$8.7 million in 2024–25 to continue to provide analysis, oversight and implementation support to deliver on Australia’s renewable energy superpower.

Commonwealth Government-funded paid parental leave enhancement

$1.1 billion over five years from 2023–24 (and $0.6 billion per year ongoing) will be provided to strengthen Australia’s government-funded Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme and improve women’s retirement outcomes. Funding includes:

$1.1 billion over four years from 2024–25 (and $0.6 billion per year ongoing) to pay superannuation on Commonwealth government-funded PPL for births and adoptions on or after 1 July 2025. Eligible parents will receive an additional payment based on the Superannuation Guarantee (12% of their PPL payments), as a contribution to their superannuation fund;
$10 million over two years from 2024–25 to provide additional support for small business employers in administering PPL; and
$1.4 million over two years from 2023–24 to update communication products and documents for potential PPL recipients.

Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program

$777.4 million will be provided over five years from 2023–24 (and $255.5 million per year ongoing) to establish the Remote Jobs and Economic Development Program, which will create 3,000 jobs in remote Australia and support income support recipients move into paid employment. Funding includes:

$536.1 million over five years from 2023–24 (and $194.3 million per year ongoing) to fund the creation of 3,000 jobs in remote Australia, through a phased roll out over three years from September 2024; and
$188.7 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $61.2 million per year ongoing) for a Community Jobs and Business Fund, to support community development and the creation of employment opportunities through funding capital, equipment and capacity building services.

Housing support program

The Government will provide additional funding to build more homes, invest in more housing enabling infrastructure, train more construction workers and support social and affordable housing and homelessness services. Funding includes:

$88.8 million over three years from 2024–25 to support 20,000 new fee-free training places, including increased access to pre-apprenticeship programs, in courses relevant to the construction sector and delivered through TAFEs and industry registered training organisations;
$7.0 million over three years from 2023–24 to provide targeted assistance to residential builders seeking to obtain accreditation under the Work Health and Safety Accreditation Scheme; and
$6.2 million over two years from 2024–25 to support building industry peak employer associations to assist residential builders in obtaining accreditation under the Work Health and Safety Accreditation Scheme.

Child care

The Government will invest $30 million over two years from 2024–25 in IT and payment services to deliver on its commitment to provide funding towards a wage increase for the Early Childhood Education and Care sector. Additional funding is being provided to strengthen fraud and non-compliance activities with respect to the child care subsidy.

$98.4 million will also be provided in 2024–25 to help child care services increase their capacity to support inclusion of children with additional needs, through tailored support and funding to services.

Closing the gap

The Government will provide $110 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $11.0 million per year ongoing) to accelerate action against the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Priority Reforms in the Education portfolio and extend programs supporting education outcomes. Funding includes:

$32.8 million over two years from 2024–25 for the Clontarf Foundation to extend its existing program for the 2025 school year to support school engagement for at-risk First Nations young men;
$29.1 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $8.7 million per year ongoing) to support national First Nations peak organisations National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation and SNAICC – National Voice for our Children to partner with Government on matters affecting First Nations children;
$27.5 million over three years from 2024–25 to extend the existing programs, Australian Indigenous Education Foundation Scholarship Program, Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s Indigenous Cultural Responsiveness Initiative and English Language Learning for Indigenous Children which aim to improve educational outcomes of First Nations students; and
$18.2 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $2.2 million per year ongoing) to develop a new First Nations education policy and engage with First Nations stakeholders.

In addition, $76.2 million over five years from 2023–24 (and $18.7 million per year ongoing) will be provided to implement a new voluntary prison to employment transition program for First Nations people aged 15 years and over who are incarcerated with a known release date or are on remand. The program will be progressively rolled out from 1 July 2025.

Employment and workplace relations

The Government will achieve savings of $65.5 million over five years from 2023–24 (and $13.2 million per year ongoing) from the Employment and Workplace Relations portfolio. Savings include:

$47.3 million over five years from 2023–24 (and $11.1 million per year ongoing) by ceasing the Harvest Trail Services and Harvest Trail Information Service programs from 30 June 2024;
$6.1 million over five years from 2023–24 (and $1.2 million per year ongoing) by ceasing the International Skills Training Courses program from 1 April 2024; and
$4.7 million in 2023–24 by reducing the number of grants issued in the second stage of the Automatic Mutual Recognition of Occupational Registrations scheme under the Business Research and Innovation Initiative.

The savings from this measure will be redirected to partially offset other Government policy priorities in the Employment and Workplace Relations portfolio.

Employment services reform

Funding will be provided by the Government over five years from 2023–24 (and savings of $36.9 million per year ongoing) for improvements to the employment services system and to support future reform. Funding includes:

$68.6 million over five years from 2023–24 to increase resourcing for the Digital Services Contact Centre to support people using Workforce Australia Online services;
$32.1 million over four years from 2024–25 for the Real Jobs, Real Wages pilot providing tapered payments to employers to support wages for people at risk of long-term unemployment;
$21.9 million over five years from 2023–24 to provide paid employment placements through social enterprise and employer partnerships for people with high barriers to work; and
$13 million over five years from 2023–24 (and $0.9 million per year ongoing) to strengthen the complaints mechanism for clients of Workforce Australia and introduce further safeguards in relation to payment suspensions or penalties.

In addition, $253.6 million over five years from 2023–24 (and $19 million per year ongoing) to reform employment services and supports for people with disability. Funding includes:

$227.6 million over five years from 2023–24 (and $11.4 million per year ongoing) to implement a new specialist disability employment program to replace the existing Disability Employment Services program by 1 July 2025; and
$23.3 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $7.6 million per year ongoing) to establish a Disability Employment Centre of Excellence

Health workforce

$116.2 million will be provided over five years from 2023–24 to strengthen and support the health workforce. Funding includes:

$90.0 million over three years from 2023–24 to fund the implementation of the health related recommendations of the Independent review of Australia’s regulatory settings relating to overseas health practitioners (the Kruk Review) to grow and support the health workforce. This funding is a component of the $1.2 billion package of Strengthening Medicare measures agreed at National Cabinet in December 2023 and has been developed in consultation with the states and territories;
$17.4 million in 2024–25 to extend the General Practice Incentive Fund until 30 June 2025 to improve access to primary care in thin markets;
$4.7 million over five years from 2023–24 for the Northern Territory Medical Program to increase the number of First Nations medical practitioners and to address recruitment and retention challenges in the Northern Territory; and
$4.0 million over four years from 2024–25 to the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association to continue to support First Nations doctors to become medical specialists.

The Government will also extend existing single employer model trials until 31 December 2028 to help attract and retain general practitioners in areas of workforce need.

Nuclear-powered submarine program

The Government will provide $101.8 million over seven years from 2024–25 to continue to build the Australian industrial workforce required to support the delivery of Australia’s conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines. Funding includes:

$68.4 million over seven years from 2024–25 for initiatives delivered through the new Skills and Training Academy; and
$33.5 million over six years from 2024–25 for initiatives to enhance domestic industry and workforce capacity.

Workplace relations

The Government will provide $111.8 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $12.4 million per year ongoing) to support the progression of the Government’s workplace relations agenda. Funding includes:

$60.0 million over four years from 2024–25 to increase the Productivity, Education and Training Fund to support practical activities by employer and worker representatives to boost workplace productivity and engage in tripartite cooperation. This will also support workplaces to implement policy changes such as the introduction of payday superannuation;
$27.5 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $7.0 million per year ongoing) to enable the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman to continue targeting non-compliance with the Fair Work Act 2009 by large corporate employers; and
$20.5 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $5.1 million per year ongoing) to boost funding for the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman to support small business employers to comply with recent changes to workplace laws.

The Government will also recalibrate the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Recovery Program to pursue unpaid superannuation entitlements owed by employers in liquidation or bankruptcy from 1 July 2024. This will achieve efficiencies of $13.0 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $29.9 million over the medium term) through an expected increase in tax receipts of $63.1 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $114.4 million over the medium term), with $44.4 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $96.9 million over the medium term) expected to be paid to superannuation funds.

Migration-related changes

The Government will implement a new Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-professionals Scheme (MATES) program for Indian nationals from 1 November 2024. MATES will provide a new mobility pathway for 3,000 Indian graduates and early career professionals (aged 18 to 30 years at the time of application), with knowledge and skills in targeted fields of study to live and work in Australia for up to two years.

Jobseeker payment changes

The Government will provide $41.2 million over five years from 2023–24 (and $7.0 million per year ongoing from 2028–29) to extend eligibility for the existing higher rate of JobSeeker payment to single recipients with a partial capacity to work of zero to 14 hours per week from 20 September 2024.

Australian universities accord

$1.1 billion over five years from 2023–24 (and an additional $2.7 billion from 2028–29 to 2034–35) will be provided by the Government for the first stage of reforms to Australia’s tertiary education system in response to the Australian Universities Accord Final Report. These reforms will boost equity and access to higher education, progress tertiary harmonisation and will support a target of 80% of the working age population holding a tertiary qualification by 2050. Funding includes:

$427.4 million over four years from 2024–25 (and an additional $1.2 billion from 2028–29 to 2034–35) to establish a new Commonwealth Prac Payment of $319.5 per week (benchmarked to the single Austudy rate) from 1 July 2025 for tertiary students undertaking supervised mandatory placements as part of their nursing (including midwifery), teaching or social work studies;
$350.3 million over four years from 2024–25 (and an additional $1.1 billion from 2028–29 to 2034–35) to expand access to university enabling and preparation programs through a new FEE-FREE Uni Ready Courses program from 1 January 2025; and
$239.7 million over five years from 2023–24 (and an additional $250.5 million from 2028–29 to 2034–35) to limit the indexation of the Higher Education Loan Program (and other student loans) debt to the lower of either the Consumer Price Index or the Wage Price Index, effective from 1 June 2023, subject to the passage of legislation. This applies retrospectively and is estimated to reduce outstanding loans by around $3 billion.

The Government will also undertake a strategic examination of Australia’s research and development system to strengthen its alignment with Australia’s priorities and improve innovation and research and development outcomes.

School education support

$70.3 million over five years from 2023–24 will be spent to continue support for initiatives to improve education outcomes for students. Funding includes:

$34.6 million over four years from 2024–25 to support the Digital Technologies Hub, Mathematics Hub, Literacy Hub, Civics and Citizenship Hub, Student Wellbeing Hub, Massive Open Online Courses and Number Check, and Early Learning Languages Australia initiative to make evidence-based curriculum support and professional development materials available to all teachers and school leaders;
$12.7 million over three years from 2024–25 to support the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority to manage the collection, quality assurance and reporting of school information; and
$7.9 million over two years from 2024–25 to support the Online National Assessment Platform to continue national testing of the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy, Civics and Citizenship, Information and Communication Technology Literacy and Science Literacy.

Australian Apprenticeships Incentive System

The Government will provide $265.1 million over four years from 2024–25 to adjust previously scheduled Phase Two Incentive System payments to provide further support for apprentices, trainees and their employers in priority occupations, while the Government undertakes the Strategic Review of the Australian Apprenticeships Incentive System.

Vocational Education And Training System

The Government will provide $26.1 million over four years from 2024–25 for the Skills and Training portfolio to contribute to a strong and effective Vocational Education and Training system, continue structural reforms, and maximise returns on previous skills and training investments and commitments. Funding includes:

$10.6 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $1.0 million per year ongoing) for the implementation of a reporting solution for the Australian Skills Guarantee;
$9.5 million in 2024–25 in additional funding for Jobs and Skills Australia’s continued provision of advice on Australia’s labour market, skills and training needs; and
$6.1 million in 2024–25 in additional funding for the National Careers Institute to continue its role in supporting Australians to access targeted careers information.

In addition, $4.4 million in 2024–25 will be provided to drive demand for Vocational Education and Training (VET) in support of delivering the workforce required to meet Australia’s future skills needs. This will include delivering strategic communications to increase the appeal of VET for students, parents and teachers, and extending community awareness of Fee-Free TAFE courses in areas of high skills needs which has ensured strong uptake of Fee-Free TAFE places to date.