Deadline: 30-Apr-25
The Department of Trade, Employment and Training is seeking proposals for its Growing Workforce Participation Fund Program to develop partnerships with industry to build longevity and sustainability in the workforce.
It does this by empowering industry and employers to support job seekers from identified groups who experience greater disadvantage in the labour market.
It is one component of the suite of programs delivered under the revitalised Back to Work initiative, which is designed to give businesses the confidence to employ Queenslanders who have experienced a period of unemployment and help workers facing disadvantage in the labour market. The fund provides:
- industry-led solutions to find and keep employees in Back to Work target locations
- greater industry-specific support for disadvantaged and vulnerable target groups.
The fund will support industry organisations to primarily support people from the following groups:
- young people (aged 15–24 years)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- people with disability
- culturally and linguistically diverse peoples
- long-term unemployed people (unemployed 52 weeks or longer).
Funding Information
- Funding of between $20,000 up to $200,000 is available under this fund.
- Duration: Maximum of 12 months to complete a project.
Eligible Activities
- Examples of eligible activities are:
- projects that aim to increase labour market participation and engagement from the target groups
- pre-employment support projects
- workforce development and resources
- projects that address industry-identified employment shortages.
Ineligible Activities
- Funding cannot be used for:
- any project or scope of work that is deemed to be core business of the applicant and/or partners
- any project or part thereof that has been, or may be, funded under another government program
- any recurring cost for the organisation, for instance:
- ongoing staff costs not related to the project
- established positions within the organisation
- normal operating costs (e.g. utility and telecommunications charges, building lease costs)
- core functions of the organisation
- the purchase of assets/capital equipment, or significant assets (buildings or vehicles)
- retrospective payments for expenses already incurred prior to grant funding approval, or for work already undertaken
- costs of consultants/contractors or other suppliers of services that are financially associated with the applicant.
Eligibility Criteria
- They encourage collaborative projects that may include the participation of local governments, partnerships with regional industry groups and other industry groups, and cohort representative groups. Applications must be submitted by an eligible provider.
- To be an eligible provider, you must:
- be Queensland-based and have operated for a minimum of 2 years prior to submitting an application
- be an industry organisation or not-for-profit community-based organisation that represents identified groups
- be registered for GST and hold an active Australian Business Number (ABN) at the time of submitting an application and for the life of the services agreement
- have a proposed eligible activity that relates to the target groups and locations
- have proven experience in providing employment-related (or similar) support to the target groups
- be compliant with all local, state and Australian Government laws and regulations, including but not limited to, industrial relations, workplace health and safety and taxation legislation.
For more information, visit Queensland Government.