The Palaszczuk Government is partnering with a globally successful online training company to provide a world first for small businesses and employees impacted by COVID-19.
Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training Shannon Fentiman said GO1, based in Logan, has delivered their ‘Netflix for training’ style platform to more than one million customers worldwide since starting in Queensland in 2009.
“We have a plan for Queensland: Unite and Recover,” Ms Fentiman said.
“Our plan is about investing in skills and jobs.”
“Go1 are well-known for providing a platform for major firms and companies across the world to access training lessons pivotal to businesses.
“In a first for the company, this training library will be made available to Queensland small businesses and their employees.”
The Minister said from today more than 400 free training courses can be accessed through two portals.
“The Queensland Small Business Skills Hub provides access for small businesses and their employees to around 400 online courses in topic areas such as Leading a Successful Business, Digital Skills and Foundation Business Skills,” the Minister said.
“The second GO1 portal, Skills Focus Queensland, will provide access for Queenslanders whose jobs were impacted by COVID-19 with approximately 400 courses across topic areas such as CV Writing and Interview Preparation, Sales, Finance and IT.”
The Queensland Small Business Skills Hub will have courses across four topic areas:
- Foundation Business Skills;
- Leading a Successful Business;
- Connecting Businesses and Customers; and
- Digital Skills and Adapting to Change.
Small business owners and operators will also be able to create their own training programs for their employees.
The Skills Focus Queensland portal will have courses across seven topic areas:
- Job Finder and Skills Booster, such as CV writing and interview preparation;
- Accounting and Finance;
- Sales and Customer Service;
- Hospitality;
- Programming and IT;
Access to the GO1 online library is part of the Palaszczuk government’s $500 million Workers Assistance package under the government’s Economic Recovery Strategy – Unite and Recover for Queensland Jobs to support employment and enable future economic growth
GO1 co-founder Vu Tran said the courses are aimed at offering lifelong training to workers as they move towards a post-pandemic world.
“This is an opportune time for Queenslanders to take stock of the path forward. Some may seek to upgrade their skills, while others could look at laying the foundation for a whole new career. The free courses will contribute greatly to helping them decide on the next steps,” Tran said.
Both the private and public sector have been recipients of GO1’s pandemic response where free courses have offered to hundreds of thousands of workers.
In Australia, GO1 has created free training hubs for workers stood down at Qantas and Virgin Australia. In Singapore, more than 70,000 Singaporean workers signed up in the first three weeks when GO1 partnered with NTUC LearningHub to offer free courses.
“We want to level the playing field for Queenslanders with our free courses and complement the efforts of TAFE Queensland and other great local providers in offering free support during these trying times.
“As we look to the months ahead, we want Queenslanders to be well equipped to tackle any economic headwinds that may lie ahead,” Tran said.
The Minister said the government will expand available training courses available by partnering with other service providers that offer online courses.
“As we recover, we will need to make sure Queenslanders have those skills needed for the jobs now and into the future,” the Minister said.
“We are open to innovative ideas for further targeted online training and will be calling for expressions of interest from Queensland training service providers in mid-June.”
Small businesses can access the Queensland Small Business Skills Hub GO1 training library via the Business Queensland website at
Individuals impacted by COVID-19 can connect to the Skills Focus Queensland training portal through the Jobs Finder portal at:
Dropbox to video of training portal and photos:
