With youth unemployment standing at 13.5 per cent in the Hunter Valley, the Training for Employment Scholarship program will give small to medium-sized businesses who hire an unemployed person aged between 18 and 24 the opportunity to access funds to cover up to 26 weeks of training.

The government will initially provide 7500 scholarships to enable employers to hire new employees and provide them with the training they need to excel in their new jobs.

In conjunction with the scholarships, they are introducing a new Youth Employment Pathways program to assist young Australians in regional areas to identify and successfully start on the path to their chosen career by returning to school, starting vocational education training or moving into the workforce 

Singleton Business Chamber secretary Gill Eason said the concept was a good one but the government needed to provide more details in regard to how it worked.

“It is fantastic the government is making money available for small businesses to train young people up to a level that makes them useful,” she told The Argus.

“Especially when a lot of small businesses have had to put off staff during the down turn and it will also assist those businesses who spent money training people then lost them to the mining industry during the boom.”

However, Mrs Eason is concerned about who will be eligible, how much paper work is involved in applying for the money and if 26 weeks of training is enough.

“The new scholarships will really only be used to attain skills in certain areas that can be acquired relatively quickly,” she said.

“And which regional areas are classified as having high unemployment levels? 

“I don’t want to be passing this information on to local businesses if it is not relevant.”

Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon concurs with Mrs Eason.

He said the government had not provided any details except that unemployed people aged between 18 and 24 would be eligible to receive funding for 26 weeks of training.

“Will young people in this program receive quality, accredited training to give them portable skills?” he said.

“Will this program be targeted at industries with skills shortages to ensure that jobs will be available 

to these young people after their 26 weeks of training?”

“We need more details than two lines in a press release to find out whether our young jobseekers will be provided with training which will help them on their path to a good career or training for training’s sake.”

HUNTER MP Joel Fitzgibbon is also critical of the Youth Employment Pathways announcement.

He believes it is nothing more than a rebadging and significant scaling back of Labor’s successful youth unemployment prevention programs including Youth Connections, Partnerships Brokers and the Career Advice service.

“Under Tony Abbott each of these three programs was axed to the tune of $130 million,” Mr Fitzgibbon said.

“Because of this cut, many unemployment prevention providers will be forced to close their doors at years end. 

“This is despite some truly impressive results, including the 25,000 young Australians per year Youth Connections has been helping transition back into school, vocational training or the workplace.

“This announcement is nothing more than a piecemeal thought-bubble of a policy. 

“Under the Youth Employment Pathways announcement, 3000 young Australians in very limited areas of the country will be allocated assistance. 

“This barely reaches 10 per cent of young Australians who were given a first start and a fair go under Labor’s successful programs, programs that Tony Abbott ripped up after coming into office.”

There are no details about where the money for this program is coming from, or what Tony Abbott intends to cut to fund it, Mr Fitzgibbon said.