The Australian Government today announced BUSY At Work is one of the successful organisations that will help young people and early school leavers become work ready under the new Transition to Work service as part of the $331 million Youth Employment Strategy, announced in the 2015-16 Budget.
Transition to Work will provide young job seekers with intensive one-on-one support from community-based organisations experienced in working with young people who face greater barriers to enter the workforce.
Strong advocate for apprenticeship and youth employment BUSY At Work CEO Paul Miles said he was excited to receive the news that BUSY had secured provider contracts in Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast and in partnership with Skill360 will deliver the service in Townsville.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for BUSY and we look forward to the challenge as this service is essentially our philosophy and the very foundation of our everyday business.”
“BUSY is very experienced with working with young people who often face greater barriers to entering the workforce. We have taken a demand led industry approach, so we’re looking forward to engaging more employers through this service,” Mr Miles said.
According to Department of Employment research, while the majority of young people successfully transitionbetween school and post-school education or employment, young people who leave school before completing Year 12 (or Certificate III) are more likely to find this transition difficult.
This is particularly the case in the current highly competitive labour market, where there is an average of 18 applicants for each lower skilled vacancy advertised on the internet and/or in newspapers.
Minister for Employment, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash said the Government is determined to provide young Australians who face difficulties entering the workforce with the assistance they require to ensure they are work-ready and able to obtain gainful employment.
“Young people are the future of our country and we need to ensure we have effective programmes in place so that those at risk of long-term welfare dependency can find and keep a job,” Minister Cash said.
“The best form of welfare is a job and the Coalition is committed to making sure those who are able to work have the necessary work-life skills required to enter the workforce.”
Mr Miles acknowledged the heavily industry backed bid which will place BUSY At Work in an excellent position to deliver the Transition to Work program.”We have strong links in the communities including employers, industry leaders, community services and schools.”
“We understand the real challenges many early school leavers face when looking for a job as we have been working with youth and long term unemployment for many years and have been involved with some excellent successes.”
“Our dedicated teams will deliver the program through individually tailored services to provide assistance with vocational skills development, purchase training, interview training and career advice,” Mr Miles said.
For more information on Transition to Work visit: www.employment.gov.au/youth or call 13 BUSY (13 28 79)
Source
Department of Employment, Survey of Employers’ Recruitment Experiences – combined data for all regions surveyed in the 2013-2014 financial year. This research can be found online (lmip.gov.au).
MEDIA CONTACT: Leanne Macnamara, Public Relations Coordinator
0438 173 960 leanne.macnamara@busyatwork.com.au
