Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

One of the goals of this particular policy is to protect the pipeline of apprentices today so that they become the skilled workforce that employers can have access to tomorrow. We have now expanded this successful program, the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy, with an additional $716 million. That is because we understand that you put in place those policies that employers can lever off to grow their workforces. They can bring on apprentices. They can bring on trainees. They can offer Australians the opportunity to be trained to be work ready from day one. We have seen, with the number of businesses who've accessed the policies and the number of Australians who've been given an opportunity across Australia, that this is a highly successful program. Again, we've put in place policies that employers can lever off so that they can get the pipeline of skilled workers that they need.