Service veterans left jobless, forlorn
VETERAN Matthew Payne knows what it feels like to slip through the cracks.
The ex-navy and army servicemen was bitterly disappointed that his 19 years of service did not cut the mustard when it came to finding a job in civvie street.
“I thought my resume looked awesome; there were loads of navy qualifications but I couldn’t even get a job at Bunnings,” Mr Payne said.
“We need help to translate our skills into civilian-recognised qualifications when we discharge.”
Mr Payne is one of 2100 younger veterans in the Far North deployed on operations since 1999 who have been let down by the support system.
The Cairns RSL sub branch last week launched its FNQ Younger Veterans co-ordination Initiative (YVCI), which aimed to identify the bewildering variety of non-government Ex Service Organisations (ESOs) and streamline the bizarre network that is making post-service life harder for young veterans.
“There is a lot of information out there, but it is hidden online or accessible only through the Defence intranet, which you have to access before you discharge,” the East Timor and Bougainville veteran said.
“The goal of the initiative is to make this information easy to access.”
Mr Payne was medically discharged last year and found his years of service did not pre- pare him for basic requirements such as building a civilian resume or preparing for a job interview.
“There is not enough information about ESOs; there’s not enough people who know what is going on,” Mr Payne said. “This is why the initiative is good; it will bring it all to light.”
The YVCI report makes for disturbing reading; the Cairns sub branch identified that the 150 ESOs that, on paper, assist veterans in their post-Defence life “did not have a comprehensive understanding of the number of younger veterans within Cairns and FNQ.”
The report scathingly found “the level of engagement and commitment to younger veterans by ESOs in the FNQ region is insufficient to meet young veteran needs.”
It found 74 per cent of veterans approached by the RSL said they were not engaged by ESOs and more than half were struggling to find employment.
“This clearly demonstrates the difficulty engaging with ESOs … and goes towards gaining an understanding of the frustrations reported by younger veterans,” the report states.
Nearly 80 per cent did not have a rehabilitation plan and 74 per cent were not engaged by ESOs.
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ENTICING new immigrants to settle in the regions has been touted as a key to unlocking the Far North’s population potential.
The Turnbull Government is slated to release a new immigration policy later this year that keeps more new arrivals in regional areas.
It comes as the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed 539,000 immigrants moved to Australia in 2016-17, with 74 per cent going to Sydney or Melbourne.
Enterprise North executive manager and former Cairns mayor Kevin Byrne said the program could help Cairns reach the population it needed to benefit as a major economy.
“While the mainstream southern urbanites are running away from the issues of tackling population growth in the cities to the south, and fretting about their infrastructure issues, we are more than happy to see increasing numbers here as this will boost our case for more infrastructure spend in northern Australia,” he said.
“We need a critical mass of people up here to really liven up our development and growth prospects and our target is a city of 340,000 or more by 2050 and a regional population of 500,000-plus in the same period.
“This is an achievable objective but we need to have the plan in place now and go for it.”
Mr Byrne, who said his advocacy group now had 20 members including Sea Swift and CQUniversity, wants the population debate to be linked to the Federal Government’s northern Australia agenda.
“I would like to think that we can get beyond the glib electoral announcements and ensure funding be conditional on identifying the best solutions through proper business cases and agreed funding plans,” he said.
Mr Byrne raised the completion of the Peninsula Development Road and the Cairns marine maintenance precinct upgrades as vital to be finished in the next funding cycle.
“It is important for governments to co-operate whatever their stripe and colour,” he said.
THERE IS A LOT OF INFORMATION OUT THERE BUT IT IS HIDDEN ONLINE OR ACCESSIBLE ONLY THROUGH THE DEFENCE INTRANET ... THE GOAL OF THE INITIATIVE IS TO MAKE THIS INFORMATION EASY TO ACCESS.