YOUTH in Newcastle and the Central Coast are suffering higher unemployment than the national average, with more than 16 per cent of the region’s young people jobless, the NSW Business Chamber has revealed.
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While youth unemployment rates nationally have been suffering since 2014, the Newcastle and Central Coast region’s unemployment rate for people aged 15-24 sits at 16.2 per cent, well above the national average of just over 12 per cent, the chamber said in a statement.
In response to these concerning statistics, Apprenticeship Support Australia (ASA) has commissioned the second Skillsroad Youth Census. The Skillsroad 2018 Youth Census follows on from a successful survey last year and is designed to highlight the hopes, fears and general attitudes of young people as they transition from school to the workforce, with a special focus on regional areas, the chamber said.
In 2017, more than 13,000 Australian youth completed the survey, revealing below-average life satisfaction and sense of well being, as well as significant levels of stress and uncertainty about choosing career pathways.
The 2018 census aims to build on existing knowledge from last year’s report.
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“This census comes at a critical time for young people in the Newcastle and Central Coast area … who are facing an employment crisis,” ASA’s Hunter and North Coast branch manager Jeff Cooke said.
“The Skillsroad 2018 Youth Census can provide unprecedented, evidence-based insights for our schools, parents and business into the necessary tools required to properly support our young people.”
The census takes less than 10 minutes to fill out and participating youth will be in the running to win their choice of either a $1000 gift card or travel voucher. Weekly prizes of $100 gift cards will also be released over the duration of the census, and participants increase their chances of winning by referring friends to complete the survey.
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The Skillsroad Youth Census is open to all Australian young people aged 15-24 and can be accessed at: http://bit.ly/Youth-Census-2018.
The census closes on September 30, with a report to be released on 15 October.
