Definitions and FAQs

Applications for the Jobs Victoria wage subsidy are closing at 3pm on Thursday, 11 August 2022.

No, late applications made after 3pm on Thursday, 11 August 2022 will not be accepted.

Victoria’s employment landscape has improved significantly over the past year. Unemployment is at a record low, labour force participation is at a record high and one in three new jobs in Australia were created here in Victoria.

Employers in Victoria and across Australia are now facing critical staff shortages. Hiring enough staff is their biggest challenge.

Given the strong economic rebound, the Jobs Victoria Fund will now focus on strengthening supports for employers to find the staff they need. The Jobs Victoria Fund’s priority workforce initiatives will support employers experiencing workforce shortages by targeting jobseekers who face challenges finding work.

All completed wage subsidy applications made by 3pm Thursday, 11 August 2022, will be processed by Jobs Victoria staff.

Jobs Victoria will process existing wage subsidy payments to employers according to existing criteria and timing.

No, the Jobs Victoria Fund will continue to operate under the administration of the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions.

The Jobs Victoria Fund’s priority workforce initiatives will support employers experiencing workforce shortages by targeting jobseekers who face challenges finding work. It will support jobseekers and employers with paid training, secure work and free mentoring.

Employers who have applied for a Jobs Victoria Fund wage subsidy can check their application’s progress in the Jobs Victoria Fund Application Hub. You can also contact Jobs Victoria on info@jobs.vic.gov.au or 1300 208 575.

Employers approved for wage subsidies will still receive the subsidy, according to the payment schedule. The criteria and payment schedule for successful applicants is unchanged.

The priority jobseekers are:

• Aboriginal people and/or Torres Strait Islander people
• jobseekers registered with a Jobs Victoria Mentor service
• long-term unemployed people (unemployed for six months or more)
• newly arrived migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds
• women aged 45 years and over
• people seeking asylum/refugees
• people with disability
• single parents
• veterans
• men and people who do not identify as a woman aged 45 years and over
• young people aged under 25
• people previously or currently employed under the Working for Victoria initiative.

The Jobs Victoria Fund supports jobs for people who have been most affected by the economic impacts of the pandemic. These people are identified as priority groups because the pandemic has particularly impacted their employment opportunities.

Financial

The Jobs Victoria Fund provides eligible employers with wage subsidies of up to $20,000 to meet the costs associated with employing someone for 12 months.

For more information see the Guidelines.

Recruitment

Support is available to assist you to hire eligible employees from the priority groups of jobseekers, please visit Recruitment support.

If you employ a jobseeker registered with a Jobs Victoria Mentor service, you and the employee will also receive post-placement mentoring and support.

If you recruit through the Jobs Victoria online hub you can target job ads to the priority groups of jobseekers. To discuss further please contact info@jobs.vic.gov.au or 1300 208 575.

Application

Before you start the application process, you should complete the Questionnaire – Is my business eligible? and the Eligibility Checklist to check your eligibility.

You must hire employee(s) from at least one of the priority groups of jobseekers before you make an application. If you meet all the eligibility criteria and supply the necessary information, you will receive funding (subject to the availability of funds and 3.4 Applicant conditions in the Guidelines).

For more information see How to apply.

If you need help completing your application, please contact info@jobs.vic.gov.au or 1300 208 575.

The Business Victoria website contains information about grants and programs available to Victorian businesses. This includes funding opportunities to support businesses to recover and grow, and to employ new staff.

The jobseeker and employer pages on the Jobs Victoria website feature translated information in 22 different languages about how to register with the Jobs Victoria online hub.

The Jobs Victoria Hotline offers services for language translation and interpreting for people with a hearing impairment through Translating Interpreting Service National.

Call the Jobs Victoria Hotline on 1300 208 575.

You can also book an appointment through Translating Interpreting Service National online or by calling 131 450.

Information about the Jobs Victoria Fund is available in community languages, including information sheets. Please contact Jobs Victoria to request copies of these.

The number of wage subsidies you can apply for over the life of the Fund depends on the size of your business.

You can apply to the Jobs Victoria Fund as many times as you like, provided your application(s) does not exceed the total number of wage subsidies for which your business is eligible.

If you are applying for more than three employees, you must provide at least 60 per cent of the jobs to women.

The amount available to an employer depends on:

• the priority group the employee identifies with
• whether the job is full-time or part-time, and
• whether the employee has transitioned to an eligible job with the same employer.

Four levels of wage subsidies are available:

• level 1 of up to $20,000
• levels 2 and 3 of up to $10,000
• level 4 of up to $5,000.

See the Guidelines for further information.

Pro-rata subsidies are provided for part-time roles. To attract the full subsidy, full time employment is classified as 35 hours per week.

Where the employer hires a jobseeker from both groups, the higher payment applies. For example, an employer who employs an Aboriginal woman under the age of 25 on a full-time basis who has not transitioned from a job with the same employer would be eligible for a $20,000 payment.

Level 1 wage subsidy

Employers who hire people from the following groups may be eligible for up to $20,000 per employee:

• Aboriginal people and/or Torres Strait Islander people
• jobseekers registered with a Jobs Victoria Mentor service*
• long-term unemployed people (unemployed for six months or more)
• newly arrived migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds
• women aged 45 years and over
• people seeking asylum/refugees
• people with disability
• single parents
• veterans.

Level 2 wage subsidy

Employers who hire people from the following groups may be eligible for up to $10,000 per employee:

• men and people who do not identify as a woman aged 45 years and over
• young people aged under 25
• people previously or currently employed under the Working for Victoria initiative.

Level 3 wage subsidy

Employers who hire people from the following groups, who have transitioned to an eligible job with the same employer that provides at least 10 hours more work per week than their previous job (up to 35 hours per week) may be eligible for up to $10,000 per employee:

• Aboriginal people and/or Torres Strait Islander people
• jobseekers registered with a Jobs Victoria Mentor service*
• long-term unemployed people (unemployed for six months or more)
• newly arrived migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds
• women aged 45 years and over
• people seeking asylum/refugees
• people with disability
• single parents
• veterans.

Level 4 wage subsidy

Employers who hire people from the following groups, who have transitioned to an eligible job with the same employer that provides at least 10 hours more work per week than their previous job (up to 35 hours per week) may be eligible for up to $5,000 per employee:

• men and people who do not identify as a woman aged 45 years and over
• young people aged under 25
• people previously or currently employed under the Working for Victoria initiative

The funding amounts listed above relate to full-time employment (35 hours per week). Pro-rata subsidies are provided for part time roles.

Employees must fall within the age group when they start their job.

*Jobs Victoria Mentors are organisations that receive funding through Jobs Victoria to deliver employment services on behalf of the Victorian Government. Receiving support through Jobactive, the Commonwealth Government’s network of organisations that deliver employment services, does not qualify an employee to meet this priority cohort (unless the employee was also receiving support from a Jobs Victoria Mentor).

To check the definition of other priority cohorts, see Appendix A – Definitions in the Guidelines.

The subsidy is calculated per employee, by the level of funding (level 1, level 2, level 3 or level 4) the employee attracts and whether the job is part time or full time (with full time defined as 35 hours per week).

The subsidy payment is spread across three milestones over the life of the Grant Agreement. Milestone one is 30% of the total subsidy, milestone two is 30% of the total subsidy and milestone three is 40% of the total subsidy.

For example:

An employer is seeking a wage subsidy for a young person working 19 hours per week. As the employee is a young person, they meet the level 2 criteria of $10,000 (pro-rata for part-time).

Milestone one

• At the time of application, the job is part-time, so the first milestone (30%) is $1,629 (19/35 x $10,000 x 0.3).

Milestones two and three

• Milestones two (30%) and three (40%) in the Grant Agreement are calculated based on the maximum subsidy that can be paid if the employee increases to full time work (milestone 2 $3,000 and milestone 3 $4,000).
• The actual milestone two and three payment is subject to the employee’s regular working hours at the time of the milestone. If the employee continues to work 19 hours per week, milestone 2 is $1,629 (19/35 x $10,000 x 0.3) and milestone 3 is $2,171 (19/35 x $10,000 x 0.4).

Total subsidy amount

• If the employee works 19 hours per week over the life of the Grant Agreement, the total subsidy amount is $5,429 (1,629 + 1,629 + $2,171).
• If the employee increases their hours to full-time by the second milestone payment, the total subsidy amount is $8,629 (1,629 + 3,000 + 4,000).

The number of wage subsidies you can apply for over the life of the Fund depends on the size of your business:

• Applicants employing one person or less can apply for one wage subsidy.
• Applicants employing between 2 and 10 people can apply for wage subsidies up to the equivalent of 50% of the current number of employees– for example, if the applicant currently employs seven people, it can apply for up to three wage subsidies.
• Applicants employing between 11 and 23 people can apply for a maximum of five wage subsidies.
• Applicants employing 24 or more employees can apply for wage subsidies up to the equivalent of 25% of the current number of people employed, capped at a total of 30 wage subsidies.

The total number of wage subsidies allowed is calculated over the life of the Fund.

You can use this table to identify the exact number of subsidies your organisation is eligible for over the life of the Fund based on your organisation’s size at the time of application.

If your organisation’s workforce increases you may be eligible to apply for further wage subsidies.

For example, if your organisation size was five people when you made your first application, you would have been eligible for two wage subsidies. If you make another application a few months later, your organisation size is now seven people. An organisation with seven people is eligible for three wage subsidies over the life of the Fund. This means you are now eligible for one further wage subsidy (as you have already received two wage subsidies).

When providing the size of your organisation, you should not include the people you are currently seeking a wage subsidy for (unless you are applying in respect of an existing employee who has transitioned to a job of at least 10 hours more per week than their previous arrangements). You can include people who you have already received funding for under the Jobs Victoria Fund.

You should include all permanent, fixed-term and casual employees. This includes staff on paid or unpaid leave such as annual, personal, sick, carers, maternity/paternity, long service, and all other types of leave.

Yes. The minimum for an application is one employee for at least 19 hours per week. If the employee has a disability or provides constant care the minimum is eight hours per week, provided they meet the evidence requirements outlined in the Guidelines.

Constant care refers to providing unpaid care and support to family members or friends with disability, mental illness, chronic condition, terminal illness, an alcohol or other drug issue or who are frail aged.

Yes. People who provide constant care and are working between 8 and 19 hours per week must also identify with one or more of the priority groups to be eligible for the Fund.

Eligibility information is available on the Jobs Victoria Fund page.

Read the Guidelines, complete the Questionnaire – Is my business eligible? and the Eligibility checklist to determine whether all eligibility requirements can be met.

Yes. Ineligible employers are:

• the Victorian Public Service and Victorian public sector entities
• the Australian Public Service and Commonwealth public sector entities.

Some eligible entity types have additional requirements to be eligible to receive funding:

• Labour hire providers must be licenced by the Labour Hire Authority.
• Incorporated associations must be incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic) and registered with the Registrar of Incorporated Associations, Consumer Affairs Victoria.
• Public companies must be incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) and be registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
• Charitable, not-for-profit organisations and entities that are classified as other incorporated entities must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

Trusts must specify the Trustee by completing a Trustee Declaration Form DOCX, 200.6 KB. The Trustee entity must also meet eligibility requirements for their entity type.

Yes. Victorian-based subsidiaries are eligible provided that:

• payroll of the Victorian-based subsidiary is less than $40 million in the financial year immediately preceding the date when the application is made
• employees must be directly employed by the Victorian-based subsidiary
• the application meets all the Jobs Victoria Fund eligibility criteria.

Small and medium businesses are encouraged to apply for the Jobs Victoria Fund, including businesses that did not previously have any employees.

Eligible businesses including sole traders and partnerships cannot use the subsidy to employ themselves. Shareholders, owners or directors within the organisation or business are not eligible employees for the subsidy. Providing subsidies for these positions is considered self-employment.

Yes. Employers looking for a wage subsidy for employees funded through the Working for Victoria initiative are eligible, provided they meet all eligibility criteria for the Jobs Victoria Fund.

Employers who wish to access wage subsidies from the Jobs Victoria Fund for Working for Victoria employees can apply at any time. Jobs supported by the Fund for Working for Victoria employees can be new or continuing positions.

Jobs Victoria Fund milestone payments will not be made until all Working for Victoria funding for the employee has been exhausted. To be an eligible job subsidised under the Jobs Victoria Fund, the job must be permanent or fixed-‑term for a minimum of 12 months with a start date after the Working for Victoria Funding ceases.

No. The Jobs Victoria Fund cannot be used to contribute to the costs of employing someone if that worker has been recruited to meet existing commitments through the Social Procurement Framework (the Framework).

For example, if your organisation will receive Victorian Government funding on the basis of employing workers from one of the Framework’s priority groups to deliver an existing project, you cannot apply for a Jobs Victoria wage subsidy for those workers.

This recognises that employers who have been successful in applying for a tender through the Framework will have already received Victorian Government funding on the basis of delivering one or more of the Framework’s inclusive employment objectives.

Eligible employers in metropolitan and regional Victoria are encouraged to apply.

Ineligible employers are:

• the Victorian Public Service and Victorian public sector entities
• the Australian Public Service and Commonwealth public sector entities.

Some eligible entity types have additional requirements to be eligible to receive funding:

• Labour hire providers must be licenced by the Labour Hire Authority.
• Incorporated associations must be incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Reform Act 2012 (Vic) and registered with the Registrar of Incorporated Associations, Consumer Affairs Victoria.
• Public companies must beincorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth) andbe registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
• Charitable, not-for-profit organisations and entities that are classified as other incorporated entities must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.
• Trusts must specify the Trustee by completing a Trustee Declaration Form DOCX, 200.6 KB. The Trustee entity must also meet eligibility requirements for their entity type.

Support is available to assist applicants to find suitable employees from the priority groups, please visit Recruitment support.

New employees must have commenced work with the applicant within 16 weeks of the application date.

If the employee has transitioned with the same employer to an eligible permanent or fixed-t‑erm job that guarantees at least 10 hours per week more than their previous job with that employer, the application must be made within 16 weeks of the employee transitioning to the eligible job (i.e. the higher number of hours).

If the employee was doing a paid trial with the applicant, the application must be made within 16 weeks of the employee transitioning to the eligible fixed-term or permanent job with the applicant.

If an employee was employed under the Working for Victoria initiative the application can be made at any time.

To be eligible for the Jobs Victoria Fund, before starting their eligible job the employee must have been:

• unemployed (no minimum period of unemployed), or
• underemployed and have transitioned to an eligible permanent or fixed‑term job that guarantees at least 10 hours per week more than their previous job (up to 35 hours per week), or
• employed under the Working for Victoria initiative, or
• employed in a paid trial (i.e. employed under casual arrangements for three months or less) and have transitioned to an eligible permanent or fixed-term job with that employer.

For employees transitioning from underemployment, an employee may work more than 35 hours per week, but the 10 additional hours must only be up to 35 hours per week. For example, an employee who has transitioned from 25 to 35 hours per week is eligible. An employee who has transitioned from 30 to 40 hours per week is not eligible.

For the purpose of the Jobs Victoria Fund, a person who is unemployed is actively seeking work, is currently available for work; and is

• working less than one hour per week; and/or
• in receipt of Commonwealth unemployment benefits at the full rate.

No, there is no minimum period of unemployment required.

However, for applicants employing a person falling under the long-term unemployed priority group, this is defined as six months or more.

For the purposes of the Jobs Victoria Fund, a newly arrived migrant is someone who has arrived in Australia during the past four years. To be eligible the person must have come from a non-English speaking background and must also meet the Jobs Victoria Fund residency eligibility criteria.

For more information see the Guidelines (Section 3.2 Criterion B - Employee eligibility).

No. Eligible employees must be a resident of Victoria, and either be Australian citizens, holders of permanent residence visas with work entitlements, holders of Australian temporary work visas, holders of student visas who are enrolled in an eligible course of study in Australia or holders of Australian refugee and humanitarian visas with work entitlements.

The job must be undertaken in Victoria.

No, organisations cannot submit a joint application and can only apply to the Jobs Victoria Fund if they are the direct employer of eligible employees.

An individual application needs to be submitted by each organisation. Subsidiaries of a franchise or parent company can apply, provided they meet the eligibility criteria.

Yes. Recipients of previous business support or a Working for Victoria grant can apply for the Jobs Victoria Fund.

Applicants can apply to the Jobs Victoria Fund in respect of an employee who received Working for Victoria funding at any time. Successful applicants will only receive milestone payments under the Jobs Victoria Fund once all Working for Victoria support has been exhausted.

Social enterprises with a 12-month Working for Victoria Grant Agreement that continue to operate and trade who make a successful application to the Fund can receive Jobs Victoria Fund milestone payments once the six‑month fully funded component of the Working for Victoria Grant Agreement has ended.

Applicants can also apply for and be currently receiving other incentives and/or wage support payments offered by the Victorian and Commonwealth governments. However, an employer cannot receive funding for more than the cost of employing someone across all programs.

Applicants must make a declaration that funding under the Jobs Victoria Fund will not be used to meet obligations under the Social Procurement Framework. Employers can contact Jobs Victoria for recruiting assistance through the Jobs Victoria online hub and/or Jobs Victoria partners to meet commitments under the Social Procurement Framework.

Email info@jobs.vic.gov.au.

Further information about business support grants.

Yes. However, an employer cannot receive funding for more than the cost of employing someone across all funding sources.

Applications will be assessed against each of the eligibility criteria and requirements outlined in the Guidelines.

Assessments are undertaken in the order applications are submitted.

Employers are encouraged to apply for the Jobs Victoria Fund as soon as possible after new employees have been hired to secure funding.

You can apply to the Jobs Victoria Fund as many times as you like, provided your application(s) does not exceed the number of wage subsidies you are eligible for.

The application must be submitted by an authorised representative from the business? who can respond to all eligibility criteria (including the provision of supporting documentation).

An authorised third party, such as an accountant, can also submit the application on behalf of the applicant. An authorising letter DOCX, 137.2 KB from a senior representative (such as a manager, director, or business owner), from the applicant organisation must be provided with the application form.

An authorised presentative from the business? or the authorised third party must provide a copy of one of the following documents with the application:

• Australian or international passport
• Australian visa
• Australian driver licence
• ImmiCard
• Medicare card
• Pensioner concession card.

Applicants will need to attach a WorkCover Certificate of Currency to their online application. Please make sure your WorkCover Employer Number (WEN) is visible on the Certificate of Currency attached to your application.

All employers should have received their 2021-22 WorkCover Insurance Notice from WorkSafe via email or mail in July 2021. You will find your WEN at the top right-hand corner of the notice, under date of issue.

If you have only recently applied to be registered with WorkSafe you may not have been issued with a WEN. In this case, please provide a copy of your WorkSafe Application with the WorkSafe Application Reference Number visible.

Find further information about WorkCover insurance.

Pay slips ensure that employees receive the correct pay and entitlements and help employers to keep accurate and complete records. They are either electronic or hardcopy statements provided to an employee within one working day of their pay day.

Pay slips must cover details of an employees pay for each pay period. The Fair Work Ombudsman provides a list of what information must be included on a pay slip along with a pay slip template that can be used by for employers.

Visit the Fair Work Ombudsman website for further information.

Statutory declarations must be attached to applications for verification purposes.

A statutory declaration is a written statement that you sign and declare to be true and correct in the presence of an authorised witness.

By signing it, you agree that the information in it is true. You can be charged with a criminal offence if the information is false. You can receive a fine of up to 600 penalty units, imprisonment for up to five years or both.

Statutory declaration templates can be downloaded at Resources to support your application.

Visit the Department of Justice and Community Safety for further information.

Statutory declarations can be witnessed and signed face-to-face or electronically. You can visit the Department of Justice and Community Safety webpage for detailed information, including how to witness legal documents online by audiovisual link.

Two statutory declaration templates for hard copy and electronic signature are available at Resources to support your application.

If you meet all the eligibility criteria and supply the necessary information, you will receive funding (subject to the availability of funds and 3.4 Applicant conditions in the Guidelines).

Jobs Victoria will contact applicants to advise them of the outcome of the assessment process. You can also see the status of your application in the Jobs Victoria Fund Application Hub. If successful, a contract (Grant Agreement) will be provided to you for signing.

If additional information is required to process your application, you will be contacted and asked to provide additional information. Any additional information must be submitted to Jobs Victoria within 30 business days, or your application will be closed.

The contract (Grant Agreement) will be between the successful applicant and the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR).

Successful applicants will receive a Grant Agreement which will include the terms of the agreement including evidence and reporting requirements to receive payments.

The Grant Agreement must be signed and returned to DJPR within the timeframes outlined in the Guidelines.

The Grant Agreement will specify a payment schedule, including dates outlining when payments will be made directly into organisations’ bank accounts.

To receive payments, the employee(s) must still be employed with the applicant and the applicant must be meeting all the conditions set out in their Grant Agreement.

For more information see the Guidelines (Section 4.5 – Payment Milestones and Requirements).

Completing an employee consent form is part of the application process. It is used to check that the application meets the Jobs Victoria Fund criteria and confirm the identity of the employee for whom a wage subsidy is being claimed.

The form includes identity checks to ensure that the subsidy is supporting eligible employees. Employees will need to provide a copy of an approved identification document to their employer for this to be undertaken.

All information collected by the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) will be treated in line with the DJPR Privacy Policy which can be found online and in line with the Privacy and Data Collection Act 2014 (Vic).

Enquiries about access to information should be directed DJPR’s Privacy Unit.

Businesses are responsible for employing and managing their employees, including providing appropriate training, induction, supervision, support and appropriately managing any performance issues if they arise.

The employer will only receive a milestone payment if the employee is still employed when each milestone payment is due.

If an employee leaves and another eligible employee is recruited, the employer may submit a new application to the Jobs Victoria Fund in respect of this new employee.

The first milestone payment (on execution of the Grant Agreement) will be paid based on the number of hours the employee is working at the time of application, evidenced by the payslip provided with your application form.

If your employee's regular working hours change over the life of the Grant Agreement, your subsidy payment may also change.

Milestone two and three payment amounts will show the maximum subsidy that can be given at that milestone based on the highest subsidy level. The actual milestone payment may be different to the maximum payment amount, subject to the employee's regular working hours at the time of the milestone.

You will be required to submit evidence of employee’s hours worked at each milestone to receive payment.

For more information regarding payment milestones, see the Guidelines (Section 4.5 Payment milestones and requirements).

The application for the specific employee will not progress as the employee is no longer employed.

Payment is contingent on employers meeting the terms in the Grant Agreement (contract) and providing evidence that the employees for which wage subsidies are being sought remain employed by the organisation.

Jobs Victoria will send you a reminder prior to your milestone date falling due. This reminder will contain the links for you to submit your second milestone evidence documents. You can contact jobsvictoria@ecodev.vic.gov.au if you need to request a copy of this email with your milestone submission links.

Payment is contingent on employers meeting the terms in the grant agreement and providing evidence that the employees remain employed. Employees must be continuously employed for 26 weeks by the time they reach milestone two. You are required to provide the following documents as specified in your grant agreement:

• 26 weeks of pay slips for each employee
• Fully completed Statutory Declaration including a statement of project accounts.

The Statutory Declaration template and links for you to submit your evidence documents are provided in the milestone reminder sent prior to your milestone date falling due. You can contact jobsvictoria@ecodev.vic.gov.au if you need to request a copy of this email with your milestone submission links.

Any personal information provided by the applicant or a third party in an application will be collected by the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) for the purpose of program administration. This information may be disclosed to other Victorian or Commonwealth government bodies for the purposes of assessing applications. If confidential personal information about third parties is included in an application, applicants are required to ensure that the third party is aware of the contents of this Privacy Statement.

Any personal or health information collected, held, managed, used, disclosed or transferred will be held in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic), the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and other applicable laws.

Enquiries about access to information should be directed to DJPR’s Privacy Unit.

To raise or discuss a matter, you can contact Jobs Victoria directly at info@jobs.vic.gov.au or on 1300 208 575.

Jobs Victoria is administered by the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR). If you are still having difficulty resolving a problem, complaints should be directed through the complaints webform on the DJPR website.

If you cannot resolve your complaint with DJPR, the Victorian Ombudsman may be able to assist.