NORTHERN inland NSW will take part in a trial program that hopes tap into local knowledge and skills, to help locals get jobs.
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The federal government’s Regional Employment Trials Program will be run over 21 months in 10 regions Australia-wide.
Employment facilitators will work with Regional Development Australia committees – RDA Northern Inland (RDANI), in this case – to design solutions to local unemployment.
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They could include hosting mentoring programs using experienced or retired residents in mentoring sessions; preparing job seekers for an upcoming infrastructure project; or running work experience programs.
The government is investing $18.4 million into the trial nationwide.
The northern inland region is believed to have been chosen for having one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.
Moree Chamber of Commerce president Murray Hartin said “anything that can be done to help people improve their skills and get into the workforce has got to help”.
“A big problem with a lot of smaller country towns in the bush is we’re so dependent on agriculture,” he said.
“As soon as things start getting tight, the purse strings are pulled in very quickly.
“We know drought can be tough on the farmers, but we tend to forget about the businesses that rely on the farmers, so anything that can assist with their stability and development is welcome, of course.”
Minister for Jobs and Innovation Michaelia Cash said the program was about “bringing together all available expertise at the local and regional level to develop positive employment outcomes”.
“This is an initiative which utilises skills already on the ground and, by investing in local employment programs, we are strengthening the local economy to the benefit of everyone in the community.”
Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government, John McVeigh, said the trial was part of the government’s “policies to ensure that people who want to work have the opportunity to get work, no matter where they live”.
The Department of Jobs and Small Business will run a competitive tender process to appoint Employment facilitators. For more information, visit www.jobs.gov.au/purchasing.
The trials will start on October 1, 2018, and run until June 30, 2020.
The northern inland area takes in the local government areas of:
- Armidale Dumaresq;
- Glen Innes Severn;
- Gunnedah;
- Gwydir;
- Guyra;
- Inverell;
- Liverpool Plains;
- Moree;
- Narrabri;
- Tamworth Regional;
- Tenterfield;
- Uralla; and
- Walcha