A report has found 'Outback Queensland' has the highest youth unemployment rate in Australia with a staggering 67 per cent unemployment.
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A new report produced by the Brotherhood of St Lawrence found that two in every three people aged 15-24 in an area from Mount Isa to Longreach to Cape York were out of work.
The report maps the 20 worst “hotspot” Australian regions for youth unemployment in 2018 and found 55 of the total of 87 regions have youth unemployment rates above 11 per cent compared to the overall national unemployment rate of 5.5 per cent.
The Outback Queensland figure is easily the most damning in the report which analyses Australian Bureau of Statistics data to find youth unemployment is at its extreme.
Its 67.1 per cent unemployment rate was over twice as high as the next region in the list, the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven region of NSW at 28.9 per cent.
The Brotherhood of St Laurence’s Executive Director, Conny Lenneberg, said the new report exposed how location was shaping opportunities for young Australians.
“In our prosperous country it’s very worrying when we have more than a quarter of a million young people in the labour force who are unemployed,” Ms Lenneberg said.
“Youth unemployment hotspots in outer suburbs and rural areas are carrying the heaviest burden.”
She said the economy was creating new risks for Australia’s emerging generation.
“Disadvantaged young people in particular are facing barriers in their effort to secure work,” she said.
“To meet this challenge, we need action from governments as well tapping into effort of employers in local communities. Stubborn rates of youth unemployment are not just a concern for families or the welfare sector.”
Minister for Employment Shannon Fentiman said investment in renewable industries, construction and tourism would help youth unemployment.
She also said the Back to Work Regional Queensland program supported payments available for eligible employers for hiring unemployed workers.
The survey follows new data from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research which showed over 66,000 fewer Queenslanders were in some form of training in 2017.
LNP Shadow Training and Skills Development Minister, Fiona Simpson, said the figures showed the Palaszczuk Labor government was failing to provide the training opportunities Queenslanders need to get a job.
“Labor comes up with glossy brochures and slogans but can’t hide the fact that the number of Queenslanders in training and completing training is going backwards on Labor’s watch,” Ms Simpson said.
“Youth unemployment is at crisis levels especially in regional Queensland where it’s over 20% in many coastal areas and over 60% in some outback areas.”
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
