Treasurer's $1.2 billion plan in Federal Budget to help pay wages of new apprentices and trainees — here's what it means

The Federal Government has announced it will roll out a $1.2 billion wage subsidy scheme for trainees and apprentices. It's different to the existing JobKeeper wage subsidy, because it focuses on new jobs being created and specifically targets people entering the job market or retraining. The existing JobKeeper payment is a flat wage subsidy that's being paid to millions of existing Australian employees whose workplaces have been put under pressure by the pandemic, to keep them connected to their job and out of the unemployment queue. Some industry insiders say that was always a bandaid measure and Sunday's announcement was inevitable to help generate new jobs, because many businesses would not be able to afford to otherwise.