ACCOMMODATION ALLOWANCE FOR REGIONAL STUDENTS DOUBLED

The accommodation allowance offered to Western Australia’s apprentices and trainees, who travel to attend off-the-job training, has been doubled. 

Geraldton MLA Ian Blayney said the change would help those students who were required to live away from home temporarily as part of their training. 

“Apprentices and trainees, particularly those living in regional and remote areas, need as much support as we can offer them and this allowance increase helps reduce the burden involved with having to travel for training,” Ian Blayney said. 

New travel allowance rates are $70 per night for overnight stays below the 26th Parallel and $110 per night above the 26th Parallel. 

“Accommodation costs in metropolitan Perth and regional WA are high and this Government wants to help those young employees as they enter the workforce,” said Ian Blayney. 

About 650 students would access the allowance each year. 

 “This was an election commitment and I am pleased the Liberal-National Government is able to provide this additional financial assistance,” Ian Blayney said.

Increasing the allowance complements recent improvements made to the training program that reduced the amount of travel for students while also ensuring more efficient training. 

This involved support for lecturers to visit students in regional centres such as Karratha, Kalgoorlie and Geraldton, rather than requiring the students to travel. 

“This more efficient delivery model allows apprentices and trainees to remain in the region and minimise major disruptions to their training and employment schedule,” Ian Blayney said.