There have been a lot of differing opinions regarding this year’s Federal Budget, but Armidale residents were very happy to hear that a local program would be receiving $800,000 from the budget to help disadvantaged youth in our community.

 

The program that will be receiving the federal funding is the BackTrack program which is an initiative of Jobs Australia Armidale that helps provide Armidale’s youth with access to mentoring and education and training programs.

 

The program has been running for seven years now, and it has already helped about 200 students by offering them life skills and training to help them enter into the workforce.

 

While the initiative has been a great help for many of Armidale’s youth though, it was at risk of being closed down this year due to low funding.

 

With federal funding now in place, the program is guaranteed to be around for the long term now, which is great news for the youth of Armidale and for our whole community.

 

For anybody who’s interested in seeing what else has gained funding in the Federal Budget this year, you can read a full overview at www.budget.gov.au.