Introduction
Good morning ladies and gentlemen.
It’s a pleasure to join you here today to launch an important piece of infrastructure in the Frankston Mornington Peninsula region.
Minister Bruce Billson sends his best wishes. I know he was disappointed he couldn’t be here today.
Frankston Mornington Peninsula JOBS (FMPJOBS) website
Congratulations to:
- Frankston Mornington Peninsula LLEN
- Skills Plus Limited and
- UWORKIN.
Your collaborative effort has produced this excellent Frankston Mornington Peninsula JOBS website.
This website is clearly the product of combined expertise and extensive knowledge of the needs of the people, businesses and communities in this region.
I understand the website will provide benefits for a range of job seekers and businesses in this region by providing a centralised, online service to link local people with local employment opportunities.
It will also provide information about how to support young people to gain experience in the workplace.
Given my own responsibilities as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, I am particularly pleased the website will benefit young job seekers.
Youth employment
The Government recognises the importance of young people’s employment opportunities.
That is why our policies are directed at increasing economic growth, which is the only thing which will deliver sustainable increasing job opportunities.
However, youth employment is an important challenge for Australia.
The level of youth employment fell by 32 100 (or 1.8 per cent) over the year, to stand at more than 1.75 million people last February.
That represents the lowest level recorded in nearly eight years.
Over the same period, the level of youth unemployment has risen by 18 900 (or 7.7 per cent) to stand at nearly 265 000.
As a result, the youth unemployment rate has increased by one percentage point, to 12.9 per cent in February 2014.
This is double the general rate of unemployment and it’s vital that we keep working to reduce this figure so that our young people have choices and opportunities about employment and their future.
But it isn’t a problem that has developed overnight, or might I say over the last six months.
Getting and keeping a job
For some young people, and probably without work skills, getting a job and keeping a job isn’t always easy.
Part-time work and work experience opportunities can help young people understand the world of work and build work skills.
UK data on contact between students and employers shows that young people who had engaged with employers had better future prospects and tended to earn more than those who hadn’t interacted with employers.
Part-time work and work experience are important for young people to understand the relevance of their education to work so they can plan and develop relevant skills and ideas for their careers.
A first job is also an important element in enriching young peoples’ learning, and supporting them to make a productive contribution to the workforce.
This, in turn, can only benefit the productivity of the nation.
Generation Success
Some of you may be aware of the Generation Success initiative established by Woolworths and News Corp.
Generation Success is an industry-driven and funded initiative, led by Woolworths and News Corp, to support youth employment.
Woolworths and News Corp have invited other large employers to join them in the initiative and publicly unite to tackle youth employment issues.
They have been promoting the Generation Success initiative through media articles, including interviews with Australian CEOs and other well-known figures, discussing their first job and how they commenced their career journeys.
The Prime Minister, Assistant Minister for Employment and I recently attended a Generation Success forum in Sydney.
The event gathered CEOs from participating Generation Success organisations, as well as young people who shared their experiences and some of the challenges young job seekers face.
Conclusion
There’s no doubt in my mind the FMPJOBS website can play a valuable role in connecting employers who are looking for workers and young people who are looking for work in this region.
This sort of local-community driven solution provides an example for others to emulate.
So congratulations to all involved and I wish you well for the future.
It is my pleasure to formally launch the Frankston Mornington Peninsula JOBS website, knowing it will benefit many young people and employers in this region.
(Ends)