Supporting You: Apprentices and Students

Apprentices trainees and students

If you are an apprentice or student support and assistance may be available to you if you are experiencing employments issues, financial difficulties or housing issues.

» Are you looking for work or a new apprenticeship?
» Are you having trouble paying bills or buying essentials?
» What assistance is there to help with my energy bills?
» Do you need advice about managing your finances, your mortgage or debts?
» Are you having mortgage or rental issues?
» Do you need legal advice?

Are you looking for work or a new apprenticeship?

Employment assistance

If you are looking for work, NSW Government job opportunities are available for people at all stages of their career. Apprenticeships, traineeships and graduate programs may also be available.

If you are about to be retrenched or have become retrenched because of the economic downturn, you may be eligible for skills assessment and training under the Retrenched Workers Training Assistance program. Contact your local State Training Services Centre on 13 28 11 for more information on what training is currently available.

If you are an apprentice or trainee who has been retrenched because of the current economic downturn and you are at risk of losing your placement you can register to be matched to apprenticeship or traineeships jobs available across the State through the Continuing Apprenticeships Placement Service Scheme (CAPS). Eligibility criteria apply and relocation assistance might be available. For more information please call 13 28 11.

If you are Aboriginal person and looking for work, want to start or need help with your own business, want to improve your current job situation or is having a hard time coping at work contact an Aboriginal Training Coordinator on 13 28 11. local New Careers for Aboriginal People Officers are available help you. These Officers also work with employers to match vacancies to qualified staff. 

Are you are looking to improve your skills, or learn new ones to help you keep your current job or find a new one? You or the company you work for may be eligible for subsidised training.   Contact your local registered training organisation or State Training Services Regional Centre on 13 28 11 to see what training is available.

If you live in social housing, have been unemployed and are re-entering the workforce the Tenant Employment and Incentive Scheme can provide you with financial assistance towards your rent for the first 12 weeks of your employment. For more information please call 1300 HOUSING (1300 468 746)

Skills and Training

Looking for training? Need to update your existing skills or learn new ones?  State Training Services in the Department of Education and Training funds vocational training for  a range of jobs and industries, in full and part qualifications, apprenticeships and traineeships, green skills and energy efficiency.   Funded training is available for unemployed, employed persons and people with special needs.   Contact a local registered training organisation (RTO) or ring State Training Services on 13 28 11.

Are you really good at your job, have you experience and skills but no formal qualification?  Contact a local RTO and get your skills assessed, and recognised.  It could help you keep your job, get a promotion or make you competitive when applying for a new job.  The RTO can also help you with short courses for catch up or gap training to get you that qualification.   If you would like to self evaluate your skills, the Skills Recognition tool can help you.   It can also help you find a suitable RTO to conduct the formal skills assessment.

If you live in social housing and are facing barriers to entering the workforce specialised training programs may be available to you. These programs include  Youth Scholarships Program and Association to Resource Co-operative Housing (ARCH) Sponsorship. For more information call 1300 HOUSING (1300 468 746).

Centrelink offers a wide range of services to help people find work

Are you having trouble paying bills or buying essentials?

Water and energy bills

If you're having difficulty paying your water bill, Sydney Water and Hunter Water offer a range of options to their customers. These include flexible payment schemes and payment assistance. Government owned energy providers also offer support for customers struggling to pay their gas and power bills.

For more information contact:

If you are a customer of other water and energy companies you should contact your provider about what options are available to you.

If you are having financial difficulty paying your energy bill financial assistance may be available through Industry and Investment NSW. Eligibility criteria apply.

For more information visit the Energy Accounts Payment Assistance Scheme website or call 1300 729 867.

Financial assistance

Apprentices and trainees may be entitled to a range of allowances or financial assistance from the Commonwealth and State Governments.  These include the purchase of tools, living away from home allowance, assistance for those with a disability, travel and accommodation, Eligibility criteria apply.  Read more, talk to your Australian Apprenticeship Centre contact, or ring State Training Services on 13 28 11.

Mortgage and rent assistance

If you are suffering temporary difficulties with your home loan repayments because of an unavoidable change in circumstances, such as unemployment, short term financial assistance through the Mortgage Assistance Scheme may be available. This is a loan to be repaid in the future and eligibility criteria apply. For more information please call 1300 HOUSING (1300 468 746)

If you are having trouble making repayments on your loan, credit card or mortgage because of illness, unemployment and other reasonable causes, you should seek assistance from NSW Fair Trading who may be able to help negotiate a variation on your contract. For more information please call 13 32 20

Housing Pathways offers a range of housing assistance options to people with housing needs, including private rent assistance and rent subsidies as well as temporary, emergency supported and crisis accommodation. For more information please call 1300 HOUSING (1300 468 746)

RTA concessions and rebates

If you are a first or second year apprentice you are eligible for a $100 rebate on your vehicle registration. For more information please call 13 22 13

If you are a pensioner you may be eligible for a number of concessions from the RTA including concessions for vehicle registration and licenses. For more information please call 13 22 13

Travel concessions

A variety of travel concessions are available including concessions for pensioners and seniors, students, apprentices and trainees, jobseekers and people with disabilities.

For more information on travel concessions please call the Transport Infoline on 131 500 

Tax assistance

If you are experiencing difficulty meeting you tax obligations there may be options to pay your tax over time. Eligibility criteria apply. For more information please call 1300 368 710

Centrelink provides a wide range of assistance to help you pay and manage your bills and rent. 

What assistance is there to help with my energy bills?

The NSW Government has a range of programs to help eligible customers stay connected to these essential services. These include the:

More information about electricity rebates and EAPA assistance is available from your electricity supplier or from the Energy Information Line on 1300 729 867.

For more information on rebates, hardship programs and payment plans contact your electricity supplier who can assist and, if you are eligible, set you up with rebates or programs.

Do you need advice about managing your finances, your mortgage or debts?

Financial advice

If you need financial advice and counselling about managing debts and payments, free accredited services are available through the Financial Counselling Services Program. Centrelink also offers advice on managing your finances. 

 Do you need legal advice?

If you need financial advice the Consumer Credit Legal Centre gives free financial counselling, information, referrals and legal advice to individual consumers in NSW on credit, debt and banking issues. Advice is not available to businesses. For more information please call 1800 808 488 for advice on credit and debt issues and 1300 663 464  for advice on insurance issues (Mon - Fri 9.30am - 4.30pm).

If you need legal advice phone LawAccess NSW on 1300 888 529 for free legal information, referrals and, in some cases, legal advice.

If you earn a low income and need legal help, Legal Aid provides minor assistance and casework services to eligible people throughout NSW including advice on mortgage payments and other debt issues. For more information please call 1300 888 529

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