The Back To Work program will be extended to 2021 if the Palaszczuk Government is re-elected on November 25.
The program provides employers with up to $20,000 in support payments for every eligible jobseeker they recruit.
Back To Work was introduced in the 2016-17 State Budget, with the government allocating $100 million over two years for it.
In December 2016, the government added a new incentive – the $20,000 Youth Boost.
Due to take-up, the Government allocated a further $50 million for the Back to Work program and $27.5 million to extend the program into South-East Queensland for unemployed and long-term unemployed in early 2017.
As at October 27 this year, Back to Work employer support payments have been made to assist a total of 7,937 jobseekers who have been employed by 3,763 employers in regional Queensland.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Tuesday if her Government was re-elected, it would invest an additional $155 million to extend the Back to Work program to July 2021.
This would help up to an additional 10,500 regional Queenslanders get a job.
“Since the 2015 election, my Government has worked with business and employers to create 122,500 new jobs and reduce Queensland’s unemployment rate from 6.6 per cent to 5.9 per cent – the lowest since November 2013,” the Premier said.
“This is due in no small part to our Back to Work program which has already seen almost 8,000 regional Queenslanders find employment.
“It is programs like Back to Work that have ensured jobs growth in Queensland is – as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says – ‘the fastest jobs growth of anywhere in the country over the last year’.”
Under the Back to Work program, employers are eligible for up to:
- $10,000 for hiring an unemployed worker
- $15,000 for hiring a long-term unemployed worker (a person unemployed for 52 weeks or more); and
- $20,000 Youth Boost for hiring a young jobseeker aged 15-24 years
Businesses can visit www.qld.gov.au/backtowork or call 137-468 for more information about Back to Work, or to apply for an employer support payment.
