WHAT SACOSS SAYS ABOUT EDUCATION, TRAINING & EMPLOYMENT
In December 2004, 39,900 South Australians were defined as long term unemployed and the number is increasing. 60% of people looking for work in SA have been unemployed for more than a year. South Australia's unemployment rate of 5.2 per cent hides an equally large number who have insufficient hours of employment to meet their needs or who have dropped out of the labour market in frustration.
Nearly one in five South Australian children are growing up in jobless households. Children growing up in jobless households are much less likely to participate in education, training and other community activities to the same extent as their peers. This reduces employment and other life opportunities and contributes to social exclusion.
In a changing and increasingly skilled workforce, education and training are the key to poor and disadvantaged people breaking the cycle and improving their life. Working with communities to leverage local knowledge and government resources can create employment, education and training opportunities for the people who need them most.
DEREK
Derek grew up in a range of foster care homes and as ward of the state. He left school at 14 to travel around Australia for almost two years before returning to Adelaide a couple of years later. This journey was his education, offering him a unique opportunity to insight into his family that he had been separated from and his culture. With no formal education however, Derek had a hard time of finding a job with any meaning and spent 10 years on the dole. After years of volunteering he finally found work at Shine SA on a traineeship as a youth worker.