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Employer Grant

What is the Employer Grant?

CTF provides employers with support to build your business, and offset costs. Keep your workforce highly competent and relevant with qualified apprentices.

Our Employer Grant program provides funding support to ensure the construction industry is skilled and supported. If you employ a current apprentice or trainee you may be eligible.

Taking on an apprentice can help you meet the demand for new construction projects and set your business and team up for stronger project outcomes. 

Grant amounts

The apprenticeship grant for employers has a base rate of $3,000 to $10,000, depending on occupation and indenture term.

Employers have the potential to receive a grant of up to $21,000. In addition to the base grant, additional supplements are available for employing someone who has completed a pre-apprenticeship, is regional, female, indigenous and/or mature-aged.

Direct indenture

Employers are known as ‘direct indenture’ if they employ the apprentice/trainee directly. In this case, you provide on-the-job training along with a Registered Training Organisation and receive the grant directly from CTF.

The apprentice grant is totalled over the full term of the apprenticeship, which takes two to four years of full-time work to complete. This includes formal classroom off-the-job training with the RTO, as well as real-world, on-site training. To qualify for a trade certificate, the apprentice must demonstrate practical competence and complete all training.

As a direct indenture employer, you and your worker are also connected to a member of the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network.

Group Training Organisations

If the worker is employed through a Group Training Organisation, the GTO receives the grant and uses it to reduce your hire-out rate. Look for this on the invoices they issue.

The GTO is responsible for organising off-the-job training on behalf of the worker and matches them with the employer for the on-site experience.

To be eligible for apprentice grants under the GTO program, the GTO must meet the criteria on the GTO Funds Management Agreement document. You can access this upon request from our team at CTF.

Apprentice Grant eligibility and adjustments

Whether you’re a sole trader, small business owner or a large organisation, you can benefit through CTF’s apprenticeship and traineeship grant for employers.

The final value for the grant is determined by CTF. We weigh up a range of supplement factors and calculate when the apprenticeship starts.  Eligible employers will receive funding during the indenture term.

We may be required to adjust the grant value if the following occurs:

  1. A reduction in term length from that specified in the training contract
  2. The employer is not the original employer of the apprentice
  3. The apprentice or trainee does not reach the scheduled payment instalment point

To find out what you can claim if you employ an apprentice or trainee, read our Levy and Funding Guidelines and visit the below sites to see what other incentives and support may be available to you:

    Employer Grant

  • Our employer grants help cover the costs of employing apprentices and/or trainees during training contract.

    Grants are available to eligible employers of apprentices/trainees that:

    ·         Employ apprentices/trainees in specific building and construction qualifications; and

    ·         Have registered the training contract with the Department of Training and Workforce Development (DTWD); and

    ·         Can demonstrate primary and substantial direct involvement in WA’s construction industry, specifically in on-site construction, installation and/or fabrication activities.

    Other eligibility criteria apply. We can only determine your eligibility once you have submitted your application. You can find out more in our Levy and Disbursement Guidelines.

  • Our employer grants range from $5,000 to $12,000. Additional bonus payments may apply. You can use our Employer Funding Calculator to see how much you could be eligible for.

    Grants are usually paid to employers in instalments based on these milestones:

    1.       When the apprentice/trainee has successfully completed six months of continuous, full-time employment (including probation) with a single employer; and

    2.       Half-way through the training contract; and

    3.       When the contract has been successfully completed.

    Payments may be adjusted if the qualification is completed ahead of the agreed term, or if the training duration is less than what is specified in the training contract.

  • Once the Apprenticeship contract has been registered in the Department of Training, Workforce & Development’s (DTWD) WA Apprentice Management System (WAAMS), we receive information from WAAMS which triggers our assessment for Employer Grant Program Funding.

    There is no requirement to submit an application to the CTF.

    Once information is received from WAAMS, we conduct an assessment and request information from the nominated Employer at payment milestone due dates. Those emails are set to send to the nominated email on your Account – any updates to that email must be made in WAAMS.

    When your apprentice/trainee reaches a milestone (listed above) we will send you an email requesting:

    ·         Copy of their payslip covering the period requested, and

    ·         Completed work history form, if applicable.

    Your claim will be processed in approx. 30 days from the date we receive your documents. If you do not receive an email from us when a milestone is reached, please contact us.

  • No. You can access funding from either CTF (if eligible) or the EIS.

    If you employ a new apprentice or trainee and have registered the training contract through the WA Apprenticeship Management System (WAAMS) portal on or after 1st July 2019, you need to declare if you intend to engage with CTF for these apprentices/trainees.

  • In some instances, we cannot determine eligibility based on the qualification alone. For example, a sheet metal worker or an electrician may work across a variety of sites that do not involve training in a construction environment.

    ·         In this case, apply to CTF first (if you are working in the construction industry).

    ·         If you are not eligible (and declined), then the EIS will be applied instead.

    ·         If you aren’t sure if your apprentice/trainee is eligible for CTF funding but you intend to engage with us, you should declare ‘Yes’ in the CTF declaration in the WAAMS portal. This allows you to make an application to CTF first.

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Acknowledgement of Country

The Construction Training Fund acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land throughout Western Australia and pay our respect to the Elders both past and present. We thank them for their ongoing custodianship of the lands and waters, and celebrate their rich culture of art, song, dance, language, and stories.