Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business) Share this | Hansard source

One of the very first actions that the government took at the outset of COVID-19 was to ensure that our small businesses were able to keep their apprentices and trainees on the job, in training, where we need them to be. We, of course, put in place our supporting apprentices and trainees wage subsidy. It commenced in April of this year, and it runs through until March next year. As at 5 November, this measure alone has supported over 55,600 businesses, the majority of them being small businesses, and we are retaining over 97,900 apprentices and trainees on the job. In fact, to date, over 20,000 bricklayers, 15,000 electricians, 10,000 plumbers, 5,000 hairdressers and 8,000 automotive mechanics have been supported through this wage subsidy. They have been kept on the job in those businesses because of the actions the Morrison government took.