State Member for Morayfield Mark Ryan this week announced that almost 200 local job seekers will benefit from the Palaszczuk Government’s $1.74 million Skilling Queenslanders for work investment in the Caboolture region.

Mr Ryan said four projects for our local area had been approved in the 2018/19 second round of Skilling Queenslanders for Work funding.

“This investment is great news for our local area,” he said.

“Each project aims to develop the skills and understanding people need to find jobs.

“Most also offer an opportunity to study for a nationally recognised qualification, up to certificate III level that open doors to new career paths for participants.

“People who will particularly benefit from these new projects are young jobseekers, mature aged job seekers and women re-entering the workforce.

“Local women should be particularly excited about the ‘Nothin’s Gonna Stop ‘em Now’ project, which aims to help eighteen women gain a Certificate 1 in construction.

“Over the course of 22 weeks the women will be trained in a variety of building maintenance and repair skills on homes that are subsidised to help improve housing affordability and reduce homelessness.

“These are really great projects that have multiple benefits for our community.”

Minister for Training and Skills Development Shannon Fentiman said more than $34.7 million has been invested state-wide on 156 projects in this round of the Skilling Queenslanders for Work.

“We know that some Queenslanders are struggling to find the right opportunity and that’s what makes Skilling Queenslanders for Work so successful,” Ms Fentiman said.

“Across the state, more than 20,000 Queenslanders have found work as a direct result of participating in a Skilling Queenslanders for Work project since July 2015.”

The funded projects in the Caboolture region are:

• Better Together Association Inc – Assisting 60 jobseekers gain qualification and employment in retail and hospitality
• Better Together Association Inc – Assisting 66 jobseekers gain qualification and employment in the community, aged care and disability sectors
• Reclink Australia – Providing a traineeship for 40 disadvantaged jobseekers in either construction or land management
• Skill Centred Queensland Inc – Employing 18 women re-entering the workforce as work skills trainees in the housing sector

Skilling Queenslanders for Work funds skills development, training and job opportunities for unemployed, disengaged or disadvantaged Queenslanders through a suite of targeted skills and training programs. Seventy-three per cent of participants found work or took on further training around 12 months after exiting a Skilling Queenslanders for Work project.

For further information visit www.training.qld.gov.au/sqw or call 1300 369 935.