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Young People Need A Chance
I read the report published by the Brotherhood of St Laurence this week that highlighted- 1 in 5 teenagers are unemployed and I note that unemployment rates overall are at a 12 year high. I am also aware that Aboriginal young people are more disadvantaged when it comes to finding work.
Recent cuts to training and education programs at TAFE and the moving of funds for Links to Learning programs in the Eastern Suburbs means that we are struggling to help these young people. We know that many newly graduated university students are struggling to find places in their chosen field so you can imagine how difficult it is for young people without a university education.
The time is right for a new debate about how to tackle youth unemployment, a new approach to job creation, supporting employers and making sure that career advice is appropriate. I am particularly concerned that there be a new approach to helping young people into employment. I believe that trades qualifications are under promoted and that university degrees are sold without the prospect of work after study.
As the CEO of Weave I want to bring these issues to the attention of the wider community and start a debate about a way forward.
“Presently, there are more than 310,000 people aged 15 to 24 who are underemployed in Australia. When you add the numbers who are without any work, more than a quarter of 15 to 24 year olds in the labour market – that is, more than 580,000 young Australians – are either underemployed or unemployed.
While young people today are negotiating a more complex world than their parents and grandparents, their aspirations are surprisingly similar. They want and need the most basic things: a home, a job, relationships and a decent income. In Australia, these are understood to be utterly mainstream ambitions.
Yet for an increasing number of young people these goals are fast becoming elusive. The pool of entry-level jobs available to young people is diminishing and the jobs they can get are increasingly casual, temporary or part-time. These insecure roles are also more vulnerable to being axed and less likely to offer career development, opportunities and training.
Tinkering with welfare policy, while ignoring the realities of the new risks and opportunities present in our modern economy, is not going to provide an answer to the dual challenges of youth underemployment and unemployment.The 580,000 young people identified in this paper are at risk of becoming a lost generation. Quite apart from their economic value to the labour market, as a society we can’t afford to waste their broader potential.
It’s really important to think about local solutions to get young people employed in your area. If you’re a small business think of employing and training young people, (there are subsidies available from Govt,) if you work for a corporate talk with HR about creative solutions that give young people meaningful employment opportunities and give young people a chance.
Yours sincerely
Shane Brown
CEO
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