Government prioritises veterans’ self-employment and entrepreneurship
The Government is continuing its investment in veteran employment with $6 million to increase civilian employment opportunities for veterans and provide support for ADF personnel considering starting their own business.
The Budget measures broaden the successful Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Program, while continuing to deliver the annual Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Awards; the Veterans’ Employment Commitment (a framework for employers to make a public commitment to supporting veterans’ employment – currently signed by over 300 organisations) and the provision of advice and employment resources for veterans.
Under the measure, new initiatives to support veterans to consider and pursue self-employment and entrepreneurship will be provided through partnerships with Government and not-for-profit organisations including the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) and Prince’s Trust Australia.
This includes expanded access to New Business Assistance with New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS), administered for over 35 years by DESE. Beginning from July 2021, veterans with an identified transition date, and the partners and adult children (over 18) of ADF personnel, will have the opportunity to participate in an Exploring Being My Own Boss Workshop and undertake NEIS training.
There will be 150 Workshop places annually for the 2021–22 and 2022–23 financial years, and 130 Workshop places in 2023–24 and 2024–25, respectively. To date, the NEIS program has helped more than 180,000 people start a new small business. This support is in addition to existing NEIS services available to eligible veterans and their families.
Furthermore, entrepreneurship support, provided via a grant to not-for-profit organisation Prince’s Trust Australia, will begin in July 2021 and deliver education programs and activities for veterans wanting to start their own business, build capacity and sustainability and increase business competitiveness.
Delivering programs that take into account the military experience, Prince’s Trust Australia has supported more than 370 participants in their Enterprise Program, with a growing alumni of successful business people. Even more participants will benefit from this program, with Prince’s Trust Australia working towards a target of supporting 10 per cent of all transitioning Defence members by 2023.
The Budget measures will also establish an evidence base to inform how support for veteran employment may be shaped into the future. This includes the establishment of a veteran indicator in the DESE’s New Employment Service Model, to understand, through de-identified data, the mainstream employment pathways and outcomes of veterans; and increased data analysis to map benchmarks and establish reporting to measure and inform current and future initiatives under the Prime Minister’s Veterans’ Employment Program.
For more information visit the DVA Budget page.