New job-ready training for Cashless Debit Card holders in Hinkler

A drug and alcohol rehab and the council are among the organisations chosen to help get people on the Cashless Debit Card back into the workforce and the program’s biggest champion insists it’s going to make a dent in dire unemployment rates.

New training for Cashless Debit Card holders will soon begin in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay and Hinkler MP Keith Pitt wants to see results.

Rather than simply pour funding into Job Service providers only, the Coalition Government is sharing $4.7 million across five organisations including Bayside Transformations drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, the Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre, Wide Bay Sexual Assault Service, the Fraser Coast council and Impact.

It’s part of the $30 million Jobs Ready package which looks at “new ways to address barriers to employment, in this instance for Cashless Debit Card recipients, not to replicate programs that already exist” and part of a commitment to “community-driven solutions to break the cycle of welfare dependence”.

Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt.

“The five local organisations are in this space every day and the Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre for example have been running a trial of their program which has a 97 per cent success rate, so if they can continue to build on that work we’ll see more people getting into the workforce,” Mr Pitt said

“These programs will help young people to build confidence and skills to improve their chances of securing a job and some offer intensive support for young people experiencing mental health challenges to navigate the pathway to self-reliance as well as empower men and women to live a drug free life by providing a wraparound responses for people with addiction.”

Mr Pitt said while there had been a reduction in the unemployment rate and youth unemployment across the region, it was still double the national average – a statistic that shows “more work to be done”.

Asked about the large number of positions available locally, particularly in the hospitality industry, Mr Pitt said if a person on Centrelink was offered a job, they should take it.

“There are many industries across the region that are looking for workers right now,” he said.

“JobSeekers do have mutual obligations and my advice has always been to take the job in front of you.

“Businesses can also contact the Employer Reporting Line to report people who have turned down a suitable job, submitted an inappropriate job application or failed to attend an interview.”

Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston said the funding formed the part of the first round of grants provided under the $30 million Jobs Fund and job ready initiative to strengthen local support services in Cashless Debit Card communities.

Federal Senator Anne Ruston. Picture: Amanda Parkinson

“The Cashless Debit Card is not the destination, it is a tool that works with support services to help people take control of their own lives, become job ready, get into employment and improve their living standards,” Minister Ruston said.

“Through these grants the Government is delivering on our commitment to provide additional resources to help connect Cashless Debit Card participants and other unemployed community members to employment opportunities and pathways to employment.”

Full funding breakdown for successful project recipients in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay and their relevant role/program:

Impact Community Services Limited – Workfit: $1,623,160

Fraser Coast Regional Council – Hervey Bay Jobs Ready Program – $929,177

Hervey Bay Neighbourhood Centre – Local Industry Futures Training service (LIFTs) – $1,118,616

Wide Bay Sexual Assault Service Inc – Youth Assist – CDC Support Services – $535,900

Bayside Transformations Limited – Uplift and upskill participants to become job ready – $500,000