Jobless youth hotspot

TASMANIA’S southeast is a national youth unemployment hotspot with a jobless rate of 21.8 per cent — lagging only outback Queensland and the Shoalhaven area of NSW.

ABS data compiled by the Brotherhood of St Laurence has listed 20 regions with the highest youth unemployment rates.

Southeast Tasmania, which includes towns on the Tasman Peninsula and the Huon Valley, was one of five regions listed with youth unemployment over 20 per cent.

It was the only Tasmanian area on the list.

The data shows the youth unemployment rate in January this year in southeast Tasmania was 1.3 per cent higher than in 2016.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence says the story of youth unemployment has become a tale of two Australias.

“While some parts of the nation offer young people abundant opportunity, in other areas young job hunters are struggling for their chance,” the report said.

The national youth unemployment headline rate is 12.2 per cent.

New Primary Industries Minister Sarah Courtney said the Government was taking steps to provide job opportunities in all areas of Tasmania through small business grants and payroll tax relief for larger companies.

She said it was working with the Tasmanian Council of Social Service to try to ascertain what the barriers to employment were in the southeast.