Changes to the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Programme Guidelines June 2015

CHANGES TO THE AUSTRALIAN APPRENTICESHIPS INCENTIVES PROGRAMME GUIDELINES – JUNE 2015

• This document outlines the significant changes that have been made to the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Programme Guidelines (the Guidelines).
• Minor wording and formatting changes have not been included, but do appear in ‘track changes’ throughout the Guidelines.

Old Section Reference / Changes and reason for changes
Numerous sections throughout the Guidelines
Note: these changes are consistent throughout the Guidelines and have not been identified below for every reference/section that has been updated or amended / References to Australian Apprenticeships Centreshave changed to Apprenticeship Network Provider as this is the term used in the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network Contract 2015-2018 to refer to organisations contracted to deliver support services, including the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Programme.
References to Australian Apprenticeships Support Services have changed to Australian Apprenticeship Support Network as this is the term used in the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network Contract 2015-2018 to refer to the services to be delivered by Apprenticeship Network Providers.
Throughout the Guidelines there are references to undertaking a qualification that leads to an occupation listed on the NSNL. Many of these references then follow with a reference to Appendix B – NSNL Occupations. It is unnecessary to refer to Appendix B in every instance as this is detailed in the Definition of Terms and Section IV.A – Trade occupation on the National Skills Needs List.
Throughout the Guidelines there are references to undertaking a qualification that leads to a Priority Occupation. Many of these references then follow with a reference to Appendix H – Priority Occupations. It is unnecessary to refer to Appendix H in every instance as this is detailed in the Definition of Terms and the new Section IV.B – Priority Occupations.
Throughout the Guidelines there are references to being ‘deemed part of a nominated equity group as defined at Section IV – Targeted Eligibility, Part C – Nominated Equity Groups’. It is unnecessary to refer to this reference at every occasion where a Nominated Equity Group is referenced as this is detailed in the Definition of Terms and the new Section IV.D – Nominated Equity Groups. References to Nominated Equity Groups have been capitalised to make it clear that it is a term that has been previously defined in the Guidelines.
Throughout the Guidelines there are numerous references stating ‘subject to meeting the eligibility criteria’. It is a given that the eligibility criteria must be met, and the eligibility criteria are outlined in great detail for each payment type. Many of these references have been deleted as it is unnecessary to continually state this requirement.
From 1 July 2015, the Support For Adult Australian Apprentices initiative will be a $4,000 payment to employers at the 12 month point of the Australian Apprenticeship. Previously it was available to both employers and Australian Apprentices with the recipient determined based on the ‘actual wage’ paid to the Australian Apprentice.
As a result of these changes, many references to Support For Adult Australian Apprentices have been amended or removed to reflect the new arrangements. In addition, the previous Section VII Support For Adult Australian Apprentices has undergone significant change and has now been included in Section V Employer Incentives.
From 1 July 2015, changes to the employment services market will be implemented. Job Services Australia will be referred to as Employment Provider and Stream 3 and Stream 4 Clients will be referred to a Stream B and Stream C Clients.
All references to arrangements prior to 1 July 2015 have been removed as the Guidelines refer to payments available from 1 July 2015.
As outlined in Section I.G of the Guidelines, Network Providers are required to continue to administer payments previously available under the Programme and should refer to previous versions of the Guidelines for arrangements that were in place prior to 1 July 2015. Previous versions of the Guidelines are available from the Training and Youth Internet Management System (TYIMS) which all Apprenticeship Network Providers have access to.
The Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Programme contains a number of payments, referred to as employer incentives and Australian Apprentice personal benefits. Following a number of changes to the Programme over many years, and the introduction of Trade Support Loans from 1 July 2014, there is a new balance between employer incentives and Australian Apprentice personal benefits, with the majority of support being targeted at employer incentives. Currently, the only personal benefit available to Australian Apprentices under the Programme is the Living Away From Home Allowance.
As a result of these changes, references to ‘employer incentives and Australian Apprentice personal benefits’ have been removed or amended to refer to ‘payments’ where appropriate. In addition, Section VI has been renamed ‘Living Away From Home Allowance’ instead of ‘Personal Benefits for Australian Apprentices’.
References to the Aged Care, Child Care, Enrolled Nursing and Disability Care Workers sectors have been changed to ‘Priority Occupations’ as it is very long and convoluted to continually refer to all the sectors. This also means that if, in the future, other occupations are added, there will not be any requirement to change every reference throughout the Guidelines.
Front cover / Guidelines effect date changed to 1 July 2015. The revised Guidelines will be released on this date as changes to a number of incentives come into effect on this date, and to coincide with the commencement of theAustralian Apprenticeship Support Network Contract 2015-2018.
Definition of Terms / The definition of ANZSCO now has a link to the ABS website.
The dot point in the Effect date definition has been incorporated into the text of the paragraph as there is only one dot point and therefore it is not necessary to have this as a dot point.
Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) definition has been deleted as this was relevant to the Apprentice Kickstart initiatives which are no longer available and have been removed from the Guidelines.
Tools For Your Trade set definition removed as the Tools For Your Trade initiative ceased from 1 July 2014 and is no longer available under the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Programme.
I.B.2 / In March 2015, the Commonwealth Ombudsman recommended changes to Section I.B.2 regarding eligibility for payments when there are changes to the Programme. This section has been included to strengthen the fact that eligibility for payments may change from the start of the apprenticeship to the time the payment is due. This section also highlights the fact that payments are designed to encourage employers to offer employment related opportunities are not subsidies for training or other related costs.
I.B.4 / The dot points referring to all the payment types have been removed. It is unnecessary to repeat all the payment types that are available as this is detailed throughout the Guidelines.
For the purposes of the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines, the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Programme is classified as a grants programme. As the Programme is subject to the provisions of the Rules and Guidelines, reference to this has been included.
I.D.4 / The withholding tax rate has been amended. Advice from the ATO is that the current withholding rate is 49 per cent.
I.E
(new) / A new section on Privacy has been included. The Department of Finance recommended that information about privacy and use of personal information should be included in the Guidelines.
I.E.2 / This section is essentially the same as section III.E.4 which relates to waiting periods. Section III.E.4 has been deleted as it is more relevant to include that information here at section I.E.2 which relates to claim forms. In addition, the introduction of the new ‘smart forms’ from 1 July 2015 will result in changes to how claim forms are accessed and completed. Detailed information will be available in the revised Australian Apprenticeship Support Network Operating Guidelines which come into effect on 1 July 2015. A reference to this has been included as it is not necessary to repeat the same detailed information in both sets of Guidelines.
I.E.3
I.E.4 / The second paragraph of section I.E.3 has been deleted and an extra line included in the first paragraph as the requirements are the same so it is unnecessary to have two paragraphs stating the same information.
Both of these sections state the same information. Instead of having two separate sections that essentially say the same thing, they have been combined into one section and references to ‘Claimant’ have been included to make the distinction between who is claiming the payment and who needs to sign the claim form.
I.G.2 / Additional paragraph inserted as Apprenticeship Network Providers are also required to check whether previous Guidelines that were in place at the commencement date of an Australian Apprenticeship apply. Changes to many payments have been previously ‘grandfathered’ meaning that commencements prior to a particular date may have been affected by the changes and eligibility will be different.
II / The heading of this section has been changed to Apprenticeship Administration. The previous heading was somewhat inaccurate as the section does not provide information about how to use the Guidelines.
II.A / Section has been removed as it repeats section I.G.2 and is incorrect on the basis that previous Guidelines may apply for commencements prior to 1 July 2015.
II.A.4
(old II.B.4) / The link to the ANZSCO search page has been incorporated into the text of the paragraph.
II.B.4 / The ‘Example of industry/regional terminology’ has been deleted. This replicates information that is available in ANZSCO and does not provide any specific information about determining Occupational Outcome from these classifications. Two extra paragraphs have been included to articulate that Occupational Outcome is based on what the Australian Apprentice will be qualified to do and should be determined in consultation with the employer and Australian Apprentice if there is any ambiguity. Further detailed information about Occupational Outcome is provided in the Occupational Outcome Guidance Document which was released in September 2010 and is still relevant.
III.A.5
III.A.6 / Following the reference to Assistance for Australian Apprentices with disability, the brackets and wording have been deleted as Assistance for Australian Apprentices with Disability encompasses Disabled Australian Apprentice Wage Support and Tutorial, Mentor and Interpreter Services. Therefore, it is not necessary to state this.
III.C.7
(new) / A new section has been included to refer to existing worker eligibility for the Mature Aged Worker Commencement Incentive. Under current rules, existing worker Australian Apprentices are eligible for the Mature Aged Worker Commencement Incentive where they meet all the eligibility criteria outlined in section III.C.6, as well as one additional criteria regarding the nominal full-time duration of the Training Contract. Instead of repeating section III.C.6 in its entirety at section IV.A.4.4, an additional section has been included here.
III.D.4 / The first paragraph of this section has been moved to section III.D.1 and the paragraph deleted as it repeats information already provided in section III.D.1.
IV.A.5 / Section has been removed as the NSNL affects a number of payments under the Programme and it is unnecessary to list them all in this section as each individual payment section details eligibility requirements in relation to the NSNL.
IV.B
(new) / New section included, Priority Occupations. The Aged Care, Child Care, Disability Care Worker and Enrolled Nurses occupations, and the qualifications that lead to these occupations, affect eligibility for a number of payments and, similar to the NSNL, has now been included under targeted eligibility.
IV.D.2
(old IV.C.2) / This section has been deleted. This information is already outlined in section IV.D.1 and the eligibility criteria for each relevant incentive.
V.A.1.2 / Reference to meeting the eligibility criteria for Certificate II qualifications has been removed as this is repeated in section V.A.1.3. This section is simply outlining the rate of the Commencement Incentive and does not need to include eligibility criteria.
V.A.1.5 / The dot points have been re-ordered so that they appear in order of qualification level.
V.A.1.6 / The first paragraph has been deleted as section V.A.1.3 makes it clear that existing worker eligibility must be met.
Third paragraph wording has been amended so that it is similar to the previous sections and it is not necessary to refer to ‘meeting the eligibility criteria’ again as this is a requirement to attract the incentive and is stated earlier in sectionV.A.1.
The last paragraph has been deleted as it is not necessary to refer to qualifications that will not attract the incentive.
V.A.1.7 / Reference to ‘other incentives payable at commencement’ has been deleted as this section is in relation to the Commencement Incentive only, and other sections in the Guidelines deal with this requirement for each individual incentive.
‘Subject to meeting the eligibility requirements’ has been deleted as it is not necessary to repeat this requirement which is stated earlier in section V.A.1.
V.A.1.8 / This section has been deleted. To be eligible for a Commencement Incentive, existing workers must be undertaking a Certificate III or IV level qualification that leads to an occupation on the NSNL. This means that references to exiting workers who are not undertaking these qualifications can be deleted. On this basis, this section is the same as section V.A.1.7 so there is no need to duplicate it.
V.A.4.3 / See reasoning below in relation to V.A.4.4, but existing worker is also a criterion that needs to be met so reference to this has been included.
V.A.4.4 / This section has been deleted. Section III.C.6 outlines the eligibility criteria for existing worker Australian Apprentices, minus the additional criteria related to the nominal full-time duration of the Training Contract for the Mature Aged Worker Commencement Incentive. To save repetition of these sections, a new section III.C.7 has been included which includes reference to the additional criteria for the Mature Aged Worker Commencement Incentive.
V.A.6 / Entire section deleted as the Apprentice Kickstart Commencement Incentive is no longer available.
V.B.2 / Entire section deleted as the Apprentice Kickstart Retention Incentive is no longer available.
V.D.1.2 / The section has been re-worded and re-structured to make it consistent with the way the comparative section relating to the Commencement Incentive is structured. This also helps with clarity.
‘Subject to meeting the eligibility requirements’ has been deleted as it is not necessary to repeat this requirement as the eligibility requirements are stated throughout section V.D.1.
V.D.1.4
V.D.1.5
V.D.1.6 / These sectionshave been re-structured to make it consistent with the order of sections in relation to other incentives. Therefore, V.D.1.4 deals with Diploma and Advanced Diploma Australian Apprenticeships, V.D.1.5 deals with part-time Australian Apprenticeships and V.D.1.6 deals with existing workers.
V.F / A new section ‘Claiming Employer Incentives’ has been included. Each incentive in section V contained information about claiming incentives and much of this information was the same and repeated numerous times throughout the Guidelines. The relevant sections in relation to the other incentives has been deleted as this information is now all contained in section V.F.
VI.B / Entire section deleted as the Tools For Your Trade Payment is no longer available.
VIII.A.6
VIII.A.8 / Section VIII.A.8 has been deleted due to the nature of the changes to SAAA payments. However, the information contained in the first paragraph of that section has been included in the last paragraph of section VIII.A.6 as it relates to eligibility for DAAWS and employer incentives.
VIII.A.9 / The last paragraph of this section has been moved to the first dot point for consistency as it is a situation where DAAWS may be attracted for a second Australian Apprenticeship.

Page 1 of 6