Community organisations joined forces to battle Geelong’s youth unemployment with information sessions and pizza on Thursday.
Geelong’s youth unemployment rate was at 9.3 per cent in July, according to Department of Employment data.
But the figure was likely much higher in certain parts of the city, said Geelong Region Local Learning and Employment Network’s (GRLLEN) Helen Boult.
“It does not account for pockets of much higher disadvantage such as Corio, Norlane or Whittington,” she said.
In Geelong 17 per cent of the labour force were either unemployed or underemployed, Ms Boult said.
“Given that the youth unemployment rate is higher than the overall labour force figure, we can expect that more young people are underemployed as well.”
GRLLEN held its free #InstaConnect forum at Simonds Stadium on Thursday to help young jobseekers explore their options.
Organisations including Diversitat and Gforce met with youths aged 16 to 24 at the forum, which included free pizza.
Youth unemployment and underemployment was at its highest rate ever in Australia, according to a Brotherhood of St Laurence report from February.
There were about 650,000 young people in Australia who were either unemployed, or employed but wanting more hours, the report stated.
