Youth unemployment in Victoria hits 15-year high

Henrietta Cook, state political reporter

Youth unemployment has leapt to a 15-year high in Victoria, with the Premier's electorate hit the hardest by the worsening crisis.

An analysis of youth unemployment data reveals that the situation has deteriorated in 12 of the state's 17 regions in the past year.

Thousands of young Victorians from all backgrounds are finding themselves caught up in a spiral of unemployment, and the situation is particularly dire in socially disadvantaged suburbs of greater Melbourne and rural areas.

The region of Warrnambool and South-West, Geelong, Melbourne's north-west and Hume are some of the most difficult areas to find work for 15 to 24-year-olds.

"In a short time youth unemployment will be a significant handbrake on the economy.

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"We are facing a situation where in a few years unemployment rates of more than 25 per cent won't be uncommon."

Policy makers had been sitting on their hands for decades and failed to recognise the dramatic changes to the economy, he said.

"The economy has changed from a closed economy, that was a lot more manufacturing based, to a more service-based, knowledge-based and competitive economy."

The average Victorian youth unemployment rate for the year to July 2014 was 13.8 per cent, up from 12.3 per cent from the same period a year earlier. Victoria is the third worst Australian state for youth unemployment after Tasmania and South Australia.

Many young Victorians are unsuccessfully applying for hundreds of jobs, and are being turned down because they are told they do not have enough experience.

The analysis, provided by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, found that in the Warrnambool and South West region 18 per cent of young people under 24 are unable to find work, up from 14.2 per cent.

In the past year youth unemployment only improved in five regions - Melbourne West, Ballarat, Bendigo, Hume and Latrobe-Gippsland.

Victorian Council of Social Service chief executive Emma King said youth unemployment had significantly worsened during the first seven months of this year, with the 2014 Victorian average currently at 14.7 per cent compared to 12.5 per cent in 2013.

"Youth unemployment is at a 15-year high and it is starting to cross boundaries that it didn't previously."

The situation is particularly tough for people who have finished university.

"They are continually told they don't have enough experience. We have a very competitive job market, they have done all the right things in terms of education."

She called for a "comprehensive workforce participation plan" that involved community, business and government coming to the table and criticised federal government changes that deny under-30s income support for six months of every year.

"They are going to be left without assistance to find work and without income assistance for six months of the year, they will be at increased risk of homelessness, they will be living on air."

Shadow treasurer Tim Pallas blamed the situation on state government TAFE cuts and called on the Coalition to acknowledge the problem.

"Then they need to commit to taking real and meaningful action and that means rectifying the damage they have done to our TAFEs so our kids can get the skills they need for the jobs they want."

But Treasurer Michael O'Brien sung praise for the government's economic credentials, saying there were 78,700 more Victorians in work today than when Labor left office in 2010.

"We also have a $27 billion infrastructure program that will create tens of thousands of new jobs; projects and jobs that Daniel Andrews and Labor oppose."

He said the government had increased vocational education and training funding by 50 per cent and introduced reforms to ensure young people received the skills they needed to find work.

A spokesman from Premier Denis Napthine's office said increased funding for vocational education and training meant the number of government subsidised enrolments had skyrocketed from around 381,000 in 2008 to 645,000 last year.

"It's great to see that our positive reforms have led to a 10 per cent decrease in male youth unemployment in Warrnambool with fewer unemployed men in Warrnambool than any other region in Victoria."