Toowoomba Regional Council to tackle ‘concerning’ youth unemployment figures with new measures

Youth unemployment in Toowoomba is the second-highest in the state, and it has spurned the council into action through several different methods.

The Toowoomba Regional Council

The Toowoomba Regional Council will push to curb the region’s level of unemployed young people, which is now the second-highest in Queensland.

Cr James O’Shea moved a motion at Tuesday’s final council meeting for 2020 to ask the State Government why the Toowoomba region wasn’t included in the Back to Work program in the latest budget, as well as whether there was extra funding in the Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative.

The council will also explore any changes to its own internal hiring measures, and also tweaked the conditions of its new youth grant to incentivise organisations development youth unemployment programs and initiatives.

It comes while one in four young people in Toowoomba aged 15-24 are unemployed, with the rate of 25.2 per cent just behind Wide Bay as the worst in the state.

Cr O’Shea, who is one of the youngest councillors on the TRC, said the numbers were concerning and required immediate attention.

“It’s a huge concern to me, and I’m chair of the regional youth advisory committee, and the number one issue stakeholders have raised has been around youth unemployment,” he said. “As leaders around that table, we can’t sit back and do nothing – we need to advocate and ask for what assistance is there to assist our region.

“We’re not included in the Back to Work funding, and we’re seeking queries around the Skilling Queenslanders for Work program.”

The new Youth Grant program, which was introduced recently, is open now and closes in January.

For more information about the grants, call the council on 131 872.