atWork Australia, in conjunction with City of Mandurah and the Jobs and Skills Centre held the Mandurah Community Youth Hub on Monday, 6th September 2021 at the Billy Dower Youth Centre in Mandurah. The Mandurah Youth Hub was designed as a free event for people under 25 years living with disability, injury, health condition or disadvantage looking for work.
The Mandurah Youth Hub was opened by the local Indigenous Employment Services team with a Welcome to the Country followed by a welcome by Luke Howarth MP, Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services.
Assistant Minister Howarth said: “The Australian Government remains committed to supporting young people and the issues they face with practical measures that reflect their priorities. As Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services, I want all young Australians to be healthy, safe and empowered to reach their full potential. I am encouraged by the success of locally-led initiatives like atWork Australia’s Community Youth Hubs, where many young people who participate find employment. It’s great to see this success expanded in a new Youth Hub in Mandurah where young people can get help with interview practice, resume writing and assistance in connecting to skills and upskilling.”
Present on the day were support services, training providers and employers, ready to offer practical assistance. The local team supported attendees with driver’s licences, linking with health services, accommodation assistance, exploring trades, speaking to employers, getting a white card, RSA, CPR training, and resume building. Also available were workshops throughout the day focusing on choosing your career path, interview tips, resumes, and what you need to get into certain industries.
atWork Australia has been holding these Youth Hubs for their clients since the start of the year, and the Mandurah Youth Hub was a special one as for the first time it opened to an entire community.
The Mandurah Youth Hub was attended by hundreds of adolescents living with disability, injury, health condition or disadvantage. Over 30 local companies attended and had great, genuine discussions with attendees leading to appointments for follow up conversations regarding potential employment. In addition to that, atWork Australia secured new employer contacts who would like to attend future Youth Hubs, including the Try-a-Trade teams and McDonald’s. The city of Mandurah is interested in organising a similar event in the near future.
The Mandurah Youth Hub was followed by the DESE Job Fair the day after which was held at the Optus Stadium. The atWork Australia team and Jobs and Skills Centre helped over 300 clients in the time frame of just six hours. The local team assisted with creating and reviewing resumes, interview tips and job applications in general. atWork Australia will be attending the Boddington Career Expo on Friday, 17 September.
atWork Australia is a national employment services provider supporting people living with disability, injury, health condition and disadvantage to find good work and they are well experienced at supporting young people too. atWork Australia has run successful youth hubs like this before, offering a day full of practical, holistic support e.g. driver’s license support, resume building, interview practice, information and signing up to training and certifications, career planning and coaching. atWork Australia offers a holistic, practical, friendly and free service to support all their clients in all parts of their life and career planning.
atWork Australia believes that work’s for everyone, highlighting the benefits of finding work and building a career, especially for people under 25 years living with disability, injury, health condition or disadvantage. Working provides youth with financial independence, purpose, the chance to contribute to the community and social inclusion. atWork Australia supports the people of Mandurah with many aspects leading towards employment including training, connections with community services, peer to peer support, financial support for getting to interviews and for work clothing, financial and general support for gaining certification as well as mental health and wellbeing coaching.
Those that attended an atWork Australia Youth Hub have reported that they have found work soon after.
