My Chance, Our Future Campaign Launched In Toowoomba

As Youth Unemployment In Toowoomba Reaches 12.7 per cent, young people will be given a new voice with the launch of My Chance, Our Future †a new campaign highlighting the urgent issue of youth unemployment.

The unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24 in the Toowoomba area is sitting at an unacceptable 12.7 per cent, according to new data from the ABS. In addition the Darling Downs †Maranoa region is at a rate of 9.8 per cent.
DISCO CEO Mike Paton stated that we need to address this urgent issue now. “It’s very important that the community understands the numbers, and if you consider that youth unemployment is double the rate of the base unemployment rate, we have a big problem” he said. “DISCO knows better than most how tough it is for our young people to get a job in Toowoomba and across the South West, so this campaign is sorely needed. We want to focus our community on our Youth Connections program which provides support to young people to help them to reengage in learning,  with the ultimate focus of supporting them to get a job and a career that’s the right fit for them”.

“Around 1 in 4 young Australians is neither working nor studying full time. These young people really need our help to get that first job, so Youth Connections services are really vital for the Toowoomba and Darling Downs community”, Mr Paton said. As part of the campaign, the Brotherhood of St Laurence welfare group has released its new Youth Unemployment Monitor, setting out the key facts as well as the human stories of youth unemployment from young people.

“At Youth Connections we really encourage anyone in our local community who is concerned about youth unemployment to sign up to the new campaign so we can really start to tackle this growing problem together. Employers can help by registering vacancies with us, the community can help by encouraging young people to seek support and register for assistance with groups like ours to provide a hand up – not a hand out” Mr Paton said.

More information is available at the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s website:
http://www.bsl.org.au/Advocacy/Youth-employment.aspx

Mike Paton – CEO
Downs Industry Schools Co-operation Inc (DISCO)
Offices in Toowoomba, Dalby and Roma
Phone 4638 3088