Toowoomba region misses out on Back to Work despite youth unemployment

Toowoomba has the second highest youth unemployment rate in Queensland, but the State Government has left the region out of a job-making program.

Queensland Government Estimates hearings at Parliment - Brent Mickelberg MP Member for Buderim Brisbane Wednesday 9th December 2020 Picture David Clark

The State Government has again defended leaving Toowoomba out of the Back to Work scheme, despite the city having the second largest youth unemployment rate in the state.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in July announced the Back to Work program was being extended another year as part of a $90 million COVID-19 stimulus package.

The initiative offers employer support payments of up to $15,000 and apprentice and trainee boost payments of up to $20,000 to eligible employers. But Toowoomba, alongside major metropolitan areas, was left out of the initiative.

In parliamentary estimates this week Employment Minister Di Farmer was grilled by the LNP’s employment spokesman Brent Mickelberg over the city’s exclusion.

“The region with the second worst youth unemployment rate in Queensland at 25.2 per cent is Toowoomba,” Mr Mickelberg said.

“Why is Toowoomba precluded from both the regional and southeast Queensland Back to Work programs?”

Queensland Government Estimates hearings at Parliment - Warwick Agnew Director General Employment and Small Business with Di Farmer Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development,Brisbane Wednesday 9th December 2020 Picture David Clark

Ms Farmer did not provide an explanation as to why Toowoomba was left out, but said “some areas of SEQ that continued to experience significant labour market challenges including Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, Scenic Rim and Somerset” were eligible.

“The department is closely monitoring the economic conditions as well as any federal incentives including JobKeeper and JobMaker for any impacts they might have on the Back to Work program,” she said.

“This monitoring will continue as a number of these federal incentives cease their support.”

Department of Employment director-general Warwick Agnew, when asked why Toowoomba was excluded from the Back to Work program, said it was the department’s role to “monitor labour force data and to provide advice to the government”.

“Meanwhile our responsibility is to administer the programs as they are put to us by government,” he said.

“The department is monitoring all of the labour force regional data when it becomes available right across the state and obviously in the southeast corner as well.”