Apprentices and trainees will continue to get the help they need to complete their apprenticeships and training and find employers, thanks to the Victorian Government.

Minister for Training, Skills and Higher Education Gayle Tierney today announced an extra $900,000 funding for the Program for Retrenched Apprentices and Trainees.

The program, a collaboration with the Apprenticeship Employment Network (AEN), the peak body for group training employers, is now fully funded to operate till next June.

The money is part of the $163 million package of investments to boost skills, create jobs and drive the state’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic announced in July.

The announcement was made at a virtual event where certificates were also presented to apprentices and trainees who have been successfully recommenced their apprenticeship or traineeship employment through the program.

The program has recently established a register of retrenched apprentices and trainees and is actively working with affected apprentices and trainees to sign them up with training, as well as place them with appropriate employers.

More than 400 apprentices and trainees have registered with the program, and more than 30 have been assisted to recommence with a new employer during coronavirus while close to 300 more are training.

Apprentices and trainees who register are supported by a project officer until they are placed with an employer.

Employers can also register apprenticeship and traineeship vacancies at the site, making the process of matching them with displaced trainees and apprentices easier.