NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads – Sam Farraway, recently visited Newman College confirming that School-based Apprentices and Trainees (SbATs) were to be included in the eligibility to apply for the Regional Apprentice and University Student Travel Card which provides eligible apprentices and university students living in regional, rural and remote areas of NSW with a $250 prepaid card to help ease the cost of travel and support access to education and training.
As many Apprentices and Trainees living regionally know, a concession card on public transport doesn’t often help in regional areas where there is limited rail & bus infrastructure to get to your workplace. And particularly doesn’t help if you need to drive a vehicle to travel between sites or carry tools of the trade.
We can’t wait for applications to open next month and will be telling all our School-based Apprentices and Trainees (SbATs) to log on and apply. Newman students who have gained a School-based Apprenticeship or Traineeship will be able to tap and pay for public transport, taxis and most favourably for fuel at the service station, for their own vehicle and/or when they borrow a family car or get a lift to transport them to where they need to be.
Every dollar helps when you are on a training wage and particularly with the high cost of fuel.
A yearly $250 prepaid card being trialed by the NSW government for 2023 and 2024 will provide fair access to concessions for students in our regional communities.
Click this Regional Apprentice and University Student Travel Card link for more information on eligibility and how to apply.
Applications open April 2023.