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Folks out of work thanks to the pandemic have a new opportunity to retrain, with the federal government promising a billion dollars in training initiatives. One of those measures is 108,000 places for free or low-paying students to enroll in either short or long courses.

Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash, said the funding will be an important boost to a skills-led recovery in NSW: “JobTrainer will play a central role in our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, not just in New South Wales but right across the nation,” Minister Cash said.

“This will fund up to 340,700 additional free or low-fee training places to help Australians upskill and reskill in areas of demand.”

This investment would help job seekers retrain or up-skill to enhance their credentials and support school leavers to enter the workforce for the first time, advised Minister for Skills and Tertiary Education Geoff Lee.

“We have to skill the workforce to take advantage of future job opportunities which may be very different to jobs in the pre-COVID economy,” he said.

“Education and skills are key pillars to the NSW Government’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan, so it is a critical step to commit to these additional training places. I expect industries such as health,  manufacturing and construction to be key training areas.”

Training is expected to commence in the coming months.

For more information about the JobTrainer Fund visit dese.gov.au.