T he NSW Productivity Places Program is part of the Australian Government’s Skilling for the Future Initiative.

The program will boost by 175,000 the number of funded qualifications for jobseekers and workers in NSW in the period to the end of 2012. The total comprises:

• 58,000 job seeker qualifications
• 117,000 existing worker qualifications

The first tender is underway and ends at 5pm EST on Wednesday July 22, 2009 with phase 1 contracts to the end 2010 to be let from mid August 2009.

A tender for phase 2 contracts is planned for September 2010 with contracts to be let for January 2011 to December 2012.

The program offers prioritised full qualifications for industry, including:

• those experiencing skills shortages, e.g. Community Services and Health
• industries of strategic importance, e.g. Advanced Manufacturing, Finance.

Information regarding a new package of apprenticeship and traineeship initiatives announced by the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Julia Gillard MP.  The package is designed to help secure the jobs and training arrangements of apprentices and trainees in the current economic downturn.  The package has two elements: the Securing Apprenticeships and Traineeships initiative and the Securing Apprenticeships and Traineeships through Registered Training Organisations initiative.