NATION Retail aid for young jobless
STRUGGLING young jobseekers have won a helping hand from retailers who are offering up to 10,000 internships.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Employment Minister Michaelia Cash will today announce the Australian Retailers Association has agreed to help get jobs for up to 10,000 young Australians aged 15 to 24 years old who have been on welfare payments for six months or more.
It will mean rather than paying out at least $ 535.60 a fortnight in Centrelink cheques to youths in this cohort, they will be empowered into work to break the welfare cycle.
Young people will be trained up under the Federal Government’s PaTH program for careers in major retailers.
They will first undergo educational training, before getting access to a 12- week internship with the end goal a permanent job.
Retailers like Battery World, Coffee Club and BrightEyes have all signed on to the program and will start placing interns over coming months.
The commitment is the single biggest take up of the PaTH program which has made leaps and bounds since the training and internship elements kicked off in April.
Mr Turnbull yesterday told News Corp creating jobs for Australians was his top priority.
“Today’s announcement is great news for young jobseekers all over the country, and reaffirms our successful steps to get Australians into work,” Mr T u r n b u l l said.
E m - p l o y me n t M i n i s t e r Cash said the best form of w e l f a r e was a job. “Young people want to work, they want opportunities and PaTH helps them to achieve that. This program is great for the self- esteem of young Australians, it builds confidence and ultimately there are benefits for the Australian economy,” Senator Cash said.
Australian Retailers Association chief executive Russell Zimmerman said some of Australia’s most successful business people started out on the retail shop floor and underprivileged youths were now getting access to that same opportunity.
“Our retailers are already major employers of young people and these PaTH internships will now provide another way that employers can give young people a go so that they can develop their skills and experience,” Mr Zimmerman said.
Since April there have already been 4886 commencements in Employability Skills Training Courses under the PaTH program.
A total of 1235 unique internship vacancies have been advertised with 620 internship placements commenced.
Of those, close to 15 per cent have secured permanent jobs.
In Queensland, 221 internships have commenced, with a total of 350 vacancies advertised.