Australian Bureau of Statistics figures compiled by the Brotherhood of St Laurence show the wider Bendigo region has a youth unemployment rate of 16.2 per cent, in stark contrast to the Ballarat region’s rate of 6.6 per cent.

Paul Green, chief executive officer of Bendigo-based employment organisation CVGT Australia, said the figures carried “an element of surprise… because Bendigo is quite a vibrant and dynamic business community”.

He said CVGT always had employment opportunities coming up, although noted the number of openings did not match the number of people unemployed.

But Mr Green said he believed there was some confusion among young people about the pathways available to employment and career opportunities outside of university studies, as well as misperceptions about the nature of many apprenticeships and traineeships as being “dirty, back-breaking work”.

Goldfields Local Learning and Employment Network executive officer Anne Brosnan said the factors behind the high unemployment rate were complex.

Ms Brosnan said there were a lot of employment supports available to young people, and sectors like health and the food and fibre industry had experienced significant growth. 

But she noted that such factors as automation and technology had swallowed up entry-level, low-skilled positions, and the availability of ongoing, full-time jobs was falling as positions became increasingly project-based.

In Bendigo, Ms Brosnan said, there was “fabulous goodwill” among business, industry, education and other sectors to work together, citing the Bendigo Tech School and GLLEN’s Passions to Pathways programs as examples.

Mr Green said he believed it was up to industry, education, media and employment organisations to promote the employment opportunities offered by such pathways as apprenticeships and traineeships, and make those avenues to work more evident.

EARLIER: The region encompassing Bendigo, Castlemaine, Heathcote, Kyneton and Woodend has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the state and the country, a new report shows.

An analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data by anti-poverty organisation Brotherhood of St Laurence reveals the region’s youth unemployment rate stood at 16.2 per cent in January 2018, behind only the Melbourne – West and Melbourne – North West regions in Victoria, and the 18th-highest rate in Australia.

The rate of youth unemployment in the region has grown from 11.4 per cent just two years ago.

The statewide youth unemployment rate is 13.1 per cent, while nationwide it is 12.2 per cent.

Overall, the national unemployment rate is 5.5 per cent.

“In our prosperous country it’s very worrying when we have more than a quarter of a million young people in the labour force who are unemployed,” Brotherhood of St Laurence executive director Conny Lenneberg said.

“Youth unemployment hotspots in outer suburbs and rural areas are carrying the heaviest burden.”

Ms Lenneberg said disadvantaged young people in particular were facing barriers to securing work.

More to come.