To be eligible for Self-Employment Assistance, you must:

• Be at least 15 years of age (noting that a person must be 18 years of age to access Small Business Coaching)
• Be allowed to legally work in Australia
• Be available to participate in the program and work the required hours in your proposed business
• Not be engaged in education and/or employment for more than 25 hours per week
• Not be an overseas visitor on a working holiday or an overseas student studying in Australia
• Not be an undischarged bankrupt

To be eligible for Self-Employment Assistance, your Business or Business Idea must be either:

• A new business, or
• A business which is operated by an Eligible Business Owner
• Have an independent business structure
• Be lawful and capable of withstanding public scrutiny
• Be, or is, established, located, and operated solely within Australia, and
• Be, or is, structured so that the Participant has and will maintain a controlling interest over the business throughout the duration of the Participant’s time accessing the Services.

You can enrol into Self-Employment Assistance by lodging an online application with us here.

We will check your eligibility and may contact you for further information before confirming your enrolment and pathway.

However, before lodging your application, we would suggest you read through the fact sheet here for some basic information.

Yes, you can access Self-Employment Assistance as a partner in your business. You will be required to submit a partnership agreement before starting the program. You will need to have equal or greater share and control over the business if partnering with a non-Self-Employment Assistance business partner.

You can have an equal controlling interest if partnering with another applicant.

Self-Employment Assistance provides support to people interested in starting their own business or who need help to refocus an existing micro-business.

This initiative aims to promote self-employment through a range of activities and is designed to encourage and enable unemployed workers to create their own jobs by starting their own small businesses.

This program will be tailored to the needs of participants to ensure that people, including those with barriers to self-employment, can access support to start and run a business.

No, the training and mentoring are fully subsided by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations as part of the Self-Employment Assistance program.

You will need to work on your business full-time, for 35 hours or more per week. This does not apply to job seekers under restricted work capacity.

Yes, you may work 15-25 hours per week externally from your Self-Employment Assistance business. However, you will require pre-approval for the external work before commencing on to Small Business Coaching.

Working externally for more than 25 hours per week will make you ineligible for Self-Employment Assistance.

Yes, you will need to consider this when completing your financial projections for the Self-Employment Assistance application.

Unfortunately, no, we do not offer any grants. However, eligible participants may receive the Self-Employment Allowance Payment.

If you require funding to start your business, our business advisors can help you discover ways to generate capital, assist with grant applications, or direct you towards external loan providers.

The Self-Employment Allowance is designed to provide income support whilst you get your business up and running. It is paid at the same rate as the single, no children rate of the JobSeeker Payment, and is unaffected by the income you earn from your business.

If you are eligible and accepted onto Small Business Coaching, you will be paid the Self-Employment Allowance for up to 9 months whilst participating on the program. If you are currently on Rent Assistance, you will also continue to receive that for up to six months on Small Business Coaching.

To be eligible for the Self-Employment Allowance, you must already be receiving one of the following eligible Income Support Payments from Services Australia:

• JobSeeker Payment
• Parenting Payment Single
• Parenting Payment Partnered
• Carers Payment
• Disability Support Pension

If you are not currently receiving a payment from Services Australia, you can find out if you are eligible here. If you are not eligible for the Self-Employment Allowance, you will still be able to receive Self-Employment Assistance for free.

Classes are scheduled to run for nine days over three weeks. The three days may be different for each month, but you can confirm the dates in the Training Calendar here.

In Western Australia, training runs from 9am-1.30pm AWST.

In Victoria, training runs from 11am – 3.30pm during AEST, and 12pm – 4.30pm during AEDT.

Yes, the content requires your full attention, so we make sure there are short breaks every hour.

Online training provides a degree of flexibility; however, you will need to make yourself available at set dates and times for the virtual classroom sessions and ensure you submit coursework on time.

All training is live, and attendance is monitored for RTO requirements.

Our online training is delivered live over Zoom, which can be accessed via a pc, tablet, or phone. Although, we highly recommend that you use a desktop computer or laptop as it is easier to see the training presentations.

A reliable internet connection is also essential. A microphone and webcam are desirable, but not compulsory as you can still participate without them using the chat function.

This training forms part of the BSB30220 Certificate III in Entrepreneurship and New Business qualification requirements. You will need to complete four assessments to be issued with a Certificate.

These assessments include a Business Plan and Business Financial Projections (which are required in order to be accepted into the Business Coaching), as well as a Third-Party report and Case Study financial projections. These assessments should not take too long to complete as they are based on the experience of running your own business.

Yes, you will need to conduct some market research and complete some sections of your business plan on the non-training days. Allow an extra five hours per week to complete this, in addition to the online training hours.

Three of the assessments are due in the week after the training finishes. The final Third Party Report assessment is due six months after the training in order to obtain your BSB30220 Certificate III in Entrepreneurship and New Business.

Yes, you can read all about the very talented people who launched their very own successful business here.

Please note, past participants came through the original New Business Assistance with NEIS program, it has since been replaced with Self-Employment Assistance. Which is a larger and revised version of the NEIS program.

Yes, behind every testimonial is an experience that matters. Take a look at what our previous clients have to say about the program here.