Tuesday, 16 November 2021

Youth employment

Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (11:56): My question is for the Minister for Employment. ABS data released last week revealed that almost 22 000 young Victorians lost their jobs during the pandemic following the government’s many lockdowns. Victoria now accounts for almost six in 10 jobs lost by Australians aged between 15 and 24 years. In June this year you said, Minister:

Our priority is to make sure that no one misses out on a chance to keep a job or find a job—our young people are so important and we won’t leave them behind as we work our way through this pandemic.

Well, you have left them behind. What is your new plan to get those 22 000 young Victorians back in work?

Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Resources) (11:57): I thank Dr Bach for his question and his interest in the government’s extensive program of support for people who are at risk of missing out on being part of the rapid economic recovery that is occurring in Victoria at the moment.

Dr Bach referred to the latest Victorian labour force statistics, which were released last week. As all members would expect, they represent a period of very significant restrictions following an extended lockdown. I would refer members for their reference also to comments made at the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee last week by the Secretary of the Department of Treasury and Finance. Whilst the current unemployment rate is 5.6 per cent, last month’s accounting of this had it at 4.7. The estimation of the Treasury department is that it will not be any time much at all until the number begins with a 3. One of the most significant things facing Victorian industry at the moment is a labour shortage and a skills shortage, and as people open this is quite acute and it is particularly impacting some sectors.

But specifically on the question of what we are doing to support young people who are out of work, I would refer Dr Bach to our $619 million Jobs Victoria program. It is providing wage subsidies of $10 000 or $20 000 to people in at-risk groups, so groups at risk of long-term unemployment—indeed the veterans that Mr Leane referred to just a moment ago, women over 45, young people under 25 and a number of other groups that experience particular vulnerabilities or particular risk of being long-term unemployed.

There are many, many examples I could give, Dr Bach, but just yesterday I visited Ohana Hairdressing—Hawaiian for ‘family’—in Collingwood, and I met Olivia, who is the business owner. She has just taken on a young woman called Ciara—always wanted to be a hairdresser—who has been out of work for quite some time, including through the pandemic, and is just commencing now as a direct result of one of the programs funded through the $250 million jobs fund, a partnership with Box Hill Institute getting 75 hairdressers into work from having been out of work. Many of those will be young people.

There are similar initiatives in caravan construction, in aged care, in community services, in logistics and distribution, and in transport. The list is long, but I would encourage Dr Bach and all members to familiarise themselves with the Jobs Victoria program. The information is all available on the website. You can click the ‘I am an employer’ button or the ‘I am looking for work’ button, and you will find what you are looking for and the support you need.

Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (12:00): I am very happy for Ciara. However, her recent employment will be cold comfort to the 22 000 young Victorians currently out of work. Despite the extensive suite of programs that the minister boasts about, clearly they are not fixing this big problem caused by the Labor government. Victoria now has the highest youth unemployment rate in the nation. Over the same period, for context, every other state got more young people into work, including 22 700 more in our northern neighbour, New South Wales. If every other state can foster youth employment, what are you doing wrong in Victoria, Minister?

Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy, Minister for Small Business, Minister for Resources) (12:00): I would encourage Dr Bach to familiarise himself with youth unemployment data over time. What I would indicate and again encourage Dr Bach to observe is the data this time last year, this time the year before or indeed when our government came to office. The Jobs Victoria program represents a threefold increase on our employment programs compared to at any other point in their history, but since 2016 there have been employment programs specifically targeting young people that are out of work. I work closely with Minister Tierney, who of course is overseeing substantial reform and significant investment in the training system. We are making sure that young people have the skills that they need and all of the other types of support that they need—it might be transport, it might be something to wear to a job interview—to get into work. I look forward to improvement— (Time expired)