DES Wage Subsidy
Employers who provide jobs to people with disability may be able to get financial help from the Australian Government. This help is available through the Wage Subsidy Scheme. The scheme offers a subsidy to eligible employers who employ a job seeker with disability, registered with a Disability Employment Service Provider, such as EDGE. Subsidies vary and are regularly reviewed by Government but generally range from a one off payment of $1400 to $10,000 depending on the candidate.
To be eligible:
- The job seeker must be employed under open employment conditions. That is, under a legal industrial agreement that complies with minimum standards established under Commonwealth, state or territory law
- It must also guarantee the job seeker a weekly award-based wage, for example, no commission based or subcontracting type arrangements
For more information, please see the Department of Employment
Restart Subsidy
The Restart Programme is an Australian Government wage subsidy that encourages businesses to employ mature age workers. Restart can help you to expand your business and employ workers who are 50 years or older. If you employ eligible mature age job seekers for 6 months or more the subsidy is a payment of up to $10,000 (GST inclusive).
You may receive a ‘kickstart’ payment of up to 40 per cent of the total wage subsidy after four weeks of the job starting. Payments are available over a six month period
Your business is eligible if it:
- Has an Australian Business Number
- Has not previously received a Restart wage subsidy for the same job seeker
- Is not an Australian state or territory government agency
For more information and eligibility criteria, please see the Department of Employment
PaTH Internship
By taking part in a PaTH internship placement you can host a young person as an intern in your organisation. Hosting an intern is an opportunity to find out if they are suitable for your business and ongoing employment
An internship will run between 4 and 12 weeks and must offer 30 to 50 hours of work experience per fortnight. This can include weekend or shift work
Interns are unpaid by your business. The intern receives a fortnightly incentive paid by the Australian Government, on top of their income support payment
Employers who take part will receive a payment of $1000 to help cover the costs of hosting an intern. If you decide to employ your intern on an ongoing basis, there may be other wage subsidies available to you
For more information about eligibility please see the JobAccess Website