Studying a qualification to become a personal trainer can be quite an expensive process. However, some providers do offer subsidized places to study their courses, meaning you can gain the skills to be a personal trainer with a lower cost involved.
Not only this, but the federal and state governments began a scheme in 2008 which meant more low cost places available for those wishing to study fitness and sport training skills.
The Productivity Places Program
The federal government introduced the Productivity Places Program (PPP) as a joint effort with state governments in 2008. This program aims to provide 710,000 training places for those already working, in order to gain additional training. The Queensland Fitness, Sport and Recreation Skills Alliance is a key player in the program.
The program was essentially designed for employers to be able to train their personal trainer employees, and give them the skills to provide clients weight loss, body building training, boot camp group training, and so forth. This allowed businesses to grow by providing subsidized training to their employees.
Therefore the PPP has been established to reduce the cost of training for those already working in the industry, with options to study courses such as the Certificate IV in Fitness for a cost of only $325 for the employer, meaning a reduction of thousands of dollars.
Subsidised courses in personal training
Several fitness institutes, such as the Australian Fitness Academy, offer a wide variety of personal training courses at subsided costs. This is made possible by Skills Victoria, who encourage more people to learn or upgrade their qualifications, providing they meet the eligibility requirements. In Victoria, eligible students must be one of the following:
- An Australian citizen
- Hold a permanent visa
- Hold a special category class visa (sub-class 444)
- An East Timorese Asylum Seeker
- Hold a Temporary Protection visa
In addition, the student must either be under the age of 20 on 01/01/2011, or aged 20+ years on 01/01/2011 and applying for a qualification higher than the highest qualification already held.
However, depending on which state you study health or fitness in, the conditions will be different. Contact your nearest Registered Training Provider offering a Certificate IV in Fitness and ask about government subsidies available in your state.