Job Ready Program (JRP)

The purpose of the Job Ready Employment (JRE) is to enable you to gain experience in an Australian workplace to further develop the skills relevant to your nominated occupation.

You must complete at least 1725 hours of paid employment over a minimum of 12 months from your JRE start date. Your employment must be in the occupation, or one closely related to the one assessed in Step 1 – Provisional Skills Assessment (PSA).

It is your responsibility to find suitable employment, which must be approved by Trades Recognition Australia (TRA).

Please note: You are not formally accepted into JRE until your application documents are reviewed and approved by TRA. If the information contained in the application documents cannot be verified to satisfy TRA requirements, your application will not be approved for JRE.

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for JRE, you must have:

• a successful PSA outcome
• hold or have lodged an application with the Department of Home Affairs for a visa that has full (unrestricted) work rights and provides sufficient time for you to complete Steps 2 to 4 of the JRP (a minimum of 12 months)
• secured eligible employment in your nominated occupation (see section 2.2.9 of the Job Ready Applicant Guidelines (Guidelines))
• less than 4 months remaining on your student visa, if applicable.

Please note: A student visa with more than 4 months remaining, or a training visa, are not accepted visas for this program.

Eligibility employment

For your employment to be eligible, it must be with your current employer when you register the employer online. It must also meet the requirements as listed in section 2.2.9 of the Guidelines.

See section 2.2.10 for acceptable subcontractor work arrangements.

How to apply

To apply for the JRE, you will need to sign in to the TRA Online Portal with the username and password created when you first registered for the JRP. You should then select the Job Ready Employment link and complete the online application.

You will be required to upload supporting documentation for each section of the application.  Once all mandatory fields completed and required documents are uploaded, the application fee payment can be made. Your application will then be submitted to TRA.

Supporting documentation

Before you can submit your online application, you will be required to upload color PDF scans of your documents, as follows:

• A completed and signed Employment Verification Report (EVR) (see section 2.2.11 of the Guidelines). EVRs for all occupations assessed under the JRE can be accessed from here.
• a copy of your current Visa Grant Notification (TRA does not accept VEVO printouts). If you have pending Visa notices these should also be provided.
• pay evidence that covers your prior employment claim period, if applicable
• a copy of your passport identification page, if you have been issued a new passport since you applied for your PSA.

JRE start date and claiming prior employment

Your JRE start date is generally the date you submit your application for JRE through the TRA Online Portal unless otherwise varied by TRA.

You can claim up to three consecutive months of paid employment that was undertaken immediately prior to applying online for JRE. This can only be claimed at the time of submitting your JRE application.

To make a claim, you must complete the prior employment section of your JRE online application and upload acceptable pay evidence for the period being claimed. TRA will assess your claim based on the paid work evidence submitted with your application. No additional documentation or clarification will be requested or accepted.

A revised JRE Start Date and any approved claimed work hours will be added to the Total Approved Hours table in the TRA Online Portal if your employment is approved by TRA.

Employment verification

A TRA officer will conduct a number of online verification checks to confirm the existence and authenticity of the workplace listed in your application and EVR. Your employer or supervisor may be contacted to confirm your work arrangements, and if deemed necessary, a site visit will be arranged. (See section 2.2.11 of the Guidelines for employment verification)

Skills Progress Report and pay evidence

A Skills Progress Report (SPR) is a self-assessment record of the skills and activities you have undertaken in your workplace as you develop your skills in your occupation. The SPR must be confirmed and signed by the supervisor recorded in your online registration for that workplace.

You will be required to provide a completed SPR after six months from your JRE Start Date, or as required, until you have achieved a successful Job Ready Workplace Assessment (JRWA) (Step 3 of the JRP). TRA will email you when your SPR is due.

SPRs will be provided to the TRA-appointed workplace assessor who conducts your JRWA. Therefore, it is important that your SPRs are an accurate record of the work you undertake in your workplace.

Completed SPRs and corresponding pay evidence must be uploaded in PDF format through the TRA Online Portal Document Uploads link.

SPRs can be accessed from the TRA website www.tradesrecognitionaustralia.gov.au.

Approved work hours

Once your SPR and pay evidence are verified by TRA your work hours will be updated in the Total Approved Hours table on your Home Page in the TRA Online Portal.

Detailed information about the JRE is provided in Section 2.2 of the Guidelines. You must read the Guidelines before submitting a JRE application.