Hume Business Employment Grants

• Hume business in Hume with a minimum of one employee.
• Be compliant with applicable workplace health and safety, industrial relations and taxation legislation.
• Hold all appropriate permits and licenses. This will include but is not restricted to; building and planning permits, liquor license, health and other statutory permits or licenses that are required for the business to be legal.
• Council rates must be paid in full and up to date, or a payment plan is in place.
• The grant will not be available for employees who are casual or are employed under subcontracting arrangements.

Employers/Business not eligible:

• Australian State and Local Government entities, including government owned corporations
• Industry bodies and group training organisations
• Employment service providers and recruitment companies
• Community service providers that deliver employment, training and social support services with the exception of Health and Care providers and Social enterprises offering open employment

• Must be a Hume Resident 
• Must be an Australian citizen, Australian Permanent Resident, NZ citizen, holder of a Permanent Humanitarian Visa or holder of a Temporary Protection Visa with Australian work rights
• For Stream 3 only: Must have been unemployed prior to current employment and supported by an employment service provider (e.g. DES, JVEN, JVES, jobactive), or a retrenched worker

An eligible job must be in the Hume Local Government Area and be:

• Ongoing paid full time or ongoing paid part time work.

Ineligible jobs

Ineligible jobs include:

• A casual job (i.e. may not have guaranteed hours of work each week; may involve working irregular hours; does not have paid sick leave or annual leave).
• Periodic arrangements that are short-term in nature (e.g. weekly hire basis).
• Where the applicant (business) is not directly employing the employee (i.e. employed on contract via a third party, such as a labour hire company or group training organisation).

Businesses that express an interest in partnering with Council under Stream 2 will be required to submit a project and budget outline for consideration by the Hume Business and Jobs Recovery Working Group.

Stream 2 Proposals received from businesses that partner with local training provider with a Skills First contract or a Hume Learn Local provider for non-accredited training will be considered favourably. Note: A Skills First contract guarantees that the training provider has no quality or compliance issues. 

The application must demonstrate a recruitment need, how the business plans to train the jobseeker e.g. as an apprentice or trainee, in house training. This training will be funded through existing Government packages, although preference will be given to programs with Hume Multiversity partners.

Applications will need to demonstrate the intent to hire and support unemployed jobseekers. Applications will be considered favourably if they hire unemployed jobseekers from the identified cohorts above.

Demonstrate a genuine commitment to ongoing employment of the employee.

Grants may not be used to replace an existing worker.

Utilised on a vacant position or new position which is ongoing in nature and commit to employing the individual for at least 12 months.

The business must commit to continuing to employ the apprentice/trainee for at least 12 months following completion of the apprenticeship/traineeship.

The business must engage with Councils Local Jobs for Local People Program to source Hume unemployed jobseekers.

Any conflict of interest needs to be clearly declared and outlined how it is going to be managed.

Due diligence will be undertaken by jobactives and employment service providers who undertake the relevant risk assessments and they are satisfied that the business is a safe and legitimate workplace for jobseeker/participant.

Businesses will be required to provide evidence of how the grants have been spent and/or provide evidence of achievement of each milestone and sustainable employment e.g. pay slips, wage records, training receipts etc.

Grants may not constitute 100% of an employee’s salary.

Priority will be given to industries and training that have strong prospects for employment within the city of Hume.  These industries include, Building and Construction, Advanced Manufacturing, Food and Fibre, Circular Economy, Health and Community Care, Education, Cyber Security, Transport and Logistics and Visitor Economy.

This Stream supports businesses that have engaged an apprentice/trainee formally and are receiving Federal Government support, following which they may apply for an additional Hume City Council subsidy of $10,000.

The grant will support the business to hire the employee for at least 12 months upon completion of the apprenticeship/traineeship.

Total grants allocation available for Stream 1: $400,000.

Payments to be made to eligible employers up to a maximum of $10,000 per jobseeker in four instalments:

• Initial payment of 25% of grant amount after four weeks of continuous employment post apprenticeship/traineeship and approval of the initial payment application.
• Second payment of 25% of grant amount after 12 weeks of continuous employment post apprenticeship/traineeship.
• Third payment of 25% of grant amount after 26 weeks of continuous employment post apprenticeship/traineeship.
• Final payment of 25% of grant amount after 52 weeks of continuous employment post apprenticeship/traineeship. 

This Stream will be applicable to businesses with a future bulk recruitment need or succession planning requirement. This Stream is available where there is an identified need for a minimum of 5 positions.

A payment of $10,000 per employee is available, made up of incentives and training costs and delivered over a period of 12 months. Council will support the business with labour market facilitation and identification of local unemployed talent through the Hume Employment and Learning Community network and community service providers. The business must engage with Council. Training partners (chosen by employer) will also work with the business to tailor training to suit their requirements.

The grant will offer incentives to businesses to take on Hume interns or cadets as well as pay for any tailored training such as licenses, certifications and pre-employment checks that are not covered by any government funding.

Total grants allocation available for Stream 2: $300,000

Payments to be made to eligible employers up to a maximum of $10,000 per jobseeker. This will comprise of an allocation of $2,000 to cover additional training, licensing or onboarding costs and an $8,000 incentive payment to employ a cadet, intern or trained new employee paid over 12 months to a business in three payments.

• Initial payment of $2,000 after four weeks of continuous employment.
• Second payment of $3,000 after 26 weeks of continuous employment with the same employer.
• Final payment of $3,000 after 52 weeks of continuous employment with the same employer. 

This Stream will provide for Council to match existing wage subsidies via a grant paid by jobactive and Disability Employment Services (DES) providers, by extending the employment period duration from 6 months to 12 months.

Existing wage subsidies range from $1,650 to $10,000 depending on barriers and level of disadvantage that an unemployed jobseeker is faced with.

This Stream will be assessed on a case-by-case basis and will assess jobseeker’s whose employment is at risk prior to 26 weeks through unforeseeable circumstances.

It can be used to strengthen the employee’s individual capacity in the workplace and it will provide the opportunity for employers to further invest in the individual to:

• upskill,
• develop the individual employees, and
• provide additional support such as a mentor.

Funding will also be available to assist in the creation of new jobs for people with a disability.

Note: You must demonstrate that the employee was unemployed prior to the commencement of their existing employment.

Total grants allocation available for Stream 3: $300,000 ($150,000 to be allocated for the sustainable employment of mainstream jobseekers and $150,000 to jobseekers supported by DES).

Payments to be made to eligible employers up to a maximum of $10,000 per employed resident in three instalments.

• Initial payment of 20% of grant amount after 30 weeks of continuous employment.
• Second payment of 40% of grant amount after 40 weeks of continuous employment.
• Final payment of 40% of grant amount after 52 weeks of continuous employment.

To be eligible for this Stream, applications must be received prior to the employee reaching 30 weeks of continuous employment.