By CASEY NEILL
A $2 MILLION online lifeline will help unemployed youth in the south-east to get into work.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash announced the Empowering YOUth initiative grant at headspace in Dandenong on Friday 4 March.
The cash will enable headspace to take its world first Work and Study service around the country through its online portal eheadspace.
Through web chat, web conferencing, phone and email, youths trying to find work or study options can receive real-time advice, information and support.
“The majority of young people that present to eheadspace experience issues such as depression, anxiety and study stress,” headspace CEO Chris Tanti said.
“There is a strong connection between mental health issues, unemployment or risk of unemployment.”
Headspace chief operating officer Kathleen Alonso said youth who came into a centre could be referred to the eheadspace service, and vice versa.
She said it would help to get unemployed youths in the south-east back into employment.
“What we will be doing is building strong relationships with industry to facilitate placements of young people in genuine jobs,” she said.
“Through the eheadspace platform we’ve been piloting an approach and now we’re able to take it full-scale and we are seeing great results from that.”
Ms Cash said headspace was among the first 20 organisations to receive Empowering YOUth grants to help vulnerable young people into sustainable employment – “proven organisations on the ground who already have a track record of getting young people ready for jobs”.
“It is unacceptable that there still remains a 12.7 per cent youth unemployment rate across Australia,” she said.
She said the key was “working with organisations to think outside the box and ensure that we are properly targeting youth who are at risk of being long-term unemployed”.
Liberal Bruce candidate Helen Kroger said the initiative was “going to create more jobs for young people in Dandenong”.
“It’s the rubber on the road that makes the difference and this is the rubber on the road,” she said.
