The political gridlock will delay the new law until next month
To overcome a logjam in Parliament, organisations will have the new $4 billion JobMaker hiring credit wage subsidy backdated to budget day.
The gridlock will delay the new law until next month following an ongoing political dispute over who can qualify, according to Fairfax Media.
In the Budget, the Coalition announced it will pay organisations to hire young Australians as part of a $4 billion budget measure that aims to address rising figures of youth unemployment.
HRD recently reported that the credit will be $200 per week for 16-to-29-year-olds, and $100 for 30-to-35-year-olds. It will be available until this time next year.
Apart from the major banks, all businesses will be eligible for the new scheme.
To qualify, the new employee must have received the jobseeker payment, youth allowance or parenting payment for at least one month out of the three months prior to being hired.
In response, Labor has pledged to pass the law but is warning the conditions could be too tight for some workers.
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This is because those who receive the JobKeeper payment cannot also receive the JobMaker hiring credit.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the new help added to "unprecedented" assistance, including the $101.3 billion JobKeeper scheme.
"That is why we have put in place the job making hiring credit to support 500,000 jobs of young people aged 16 to 35 who may have been unemployed in one of the last three months," he told Parliament.
On budget day, Frydenberg said that Treasury estimates the initiative will support around 450,000 jobs for young people.
“Having a job means more than earning an income. It means economic security. It means independence. It means opportunity,” he said.
“We can’t let this COVID recession take that away.”
Even though Labor leader Anthony Albanese welcomed the new hiring credit, he said it failed to help 928,000 people who were over the age of 35.
The Opposition leader used Question Time to challenge the government on support for families, arguing the Coalition was wrong to cap its childcare subsidy at $189,000 for household income.
On Monday, the government introduced the JobMaker hiring credit bill into Parliament, however the draft law is only eight pages long, leaving the conditions to be applied by Frydenberg by regulation.
Sine the Senate is engaged in estimates hearings this fortnight, the earliest date to pass the bill through the upper house would be the week starting November 9.
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Labor’s employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor added that the Opposition would back the bill but would scrutinise it in a Senate inquiry.
"You can’t receive both JobKeeper and the JobMaker hiring credit," he said.
