Eligible job seekers who are registered with an ESP must be referred to training under the program by their ESP. These clients must access training under the program through an approved organisation.

For job seekers not registered with an ESP, evidence of eligibility (as described in this section) must be provided to the approved organisation to support confirmation of the enrolment process.

For job seekers registered with an ESP, they will be expected to provide evidence of their eligibility, including identity, residency, personal circumstances and signed Statutory Declaration, in a form provided by DEEWR, in addition to the ESP referral form.

Original documents must be sighted and copied certifying that these are copies of the original by the approved organisation, except in the case of applicants who apply for a training place through a distance provider or who are from rural and remote locations. In these cases, relevant evidence must be sighted, copied and certified as true copies by someone who is authorised to do so (for instance legal practitioner). The certified copies must be sent to the approved organisation prior to enrolment for each applicant and retained on their file.
To be eligible for the program an applicant, must meet the following criteria:

1. Residency

That is the applicant must be:

• an Australian citizen;
• a permanent resident of Australia; or
• a humanitarian refugee.

Evidence of citizenship or residency status needs to be sighted, copied for each applicant and retained on their file, by the approved organisation. Evidence will take the form of one of the following: an Australian birth certificate, birth certificate extract, Australian passport, naturalisation certificate, green Medicare card or appropriate visa issued by the Commonwealth (this may include a Visa Evidencing Card that demonstrates a protection visa). New Zealand citizens who have permanent residency status in Australia are eligible to apply to the program. Those New Zealand citizens who entered Australia after 26 January 2001 hold a Special Category Visa (TY444) and are not eligible for the program, as they do not have permanent residency status in Australia.

Where a green Medicare card is provided as evidence of citizenship or residency, additional evidence of identity will be required. Acceptable additional evidence will be either a current driver’s licence or proof of age card.

If an applicant has changed their name through marriage or via deed poll the applicant should provide appropriate evidence to support the above documentation, this could include a marriage certificate.

2. Working Age

The applicant must be aged 15 years or above.

Original evidence of age must be sighted, copied and retained on the applicant’s file by the approved organisation. Evidence will take the form of one of the following: a passport, birth certificate, birth certificate extract, current driver’s licence or Proof of Age Card.

3. Personal Circumstances

An applicant must be a job seeker, who:

• is registered with an ESP – confirmed by documented correspondence between the ESP and the approved organisation and including their Job Seeker ID and customer reference number (CRN); or
• is an income support recipient who is not currently required to meet activity test or participation requirements – confirmed by providing an income statement with their CRN; or
• is a Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) participant – confirmed by documented correspondence between the CDEP Organisation and approved organisation with their CRN; or
• is not currently working but is seeking or intending to seek paid employment or self employment after completing the qualification – confirmed by completing a statutory declaration; or
• is participating in the Access Program – confirmed by documented correspondence between the Access Provider and the approved organisation; or
• was in one of the above categories before they entered into their Australian Apprenticeships arrangement (for commencements on or after 1 April 2008) – confirmed by providing a copy of their training contract and completing a statutory declaration.

Please note that from 10 September 2008 to 30 June 2009, training places will only be available to those registered with and referred by an ESP, those participating in and referred by the Australian Apprenticeships Access program and CDEP. The eligibility criteria and referral processes remain unchanged.

4. Applicant Status

An applicant must not be:

• self-employed; or
• a full-time student.

These must be confirmed by the applicant signing a Statutory Declaration (as outlined in 3 - Personal Circumstances above).

5. Capacity to Benefit

Applicants must be:

• assessed by an ESP as having a Capacity to Benefit from the training; or
• assessed by an approved organisation as having a Capacity to Benefit from the training (refer Section 2 - Definitions).

6. Training Pre-requisites

An approved organisation must be satisfied an applicant meets enrolment requirements including a literacy and numeracy assessment to ensure the applicant has the ability to effectively undertake the qualification.

Please Note: Prisoners in custody, this includes prisoners in pre-release programs, are not eligible for the Productivity Places Program.

7. Licensing Requirements

To the degree possible, approved organisations must check that applicants can meet licensing requirements (for relevant qualifications) prior to submitting the confirmation of employment on PIMS. DEEWR recognises that some requirements e.g. applicants health; meeting fit and proper person tests (e.g. police checks), etc. - cannot be assessed by approved organisations, but applicants should be made aware of all licensing requirements prior to enrolment.