Neighbourhood Renewal › Action areas › Employment, Learning & Education

Access to work and learning opportunities can affect the health and socio-economic well-being of individuals and their local communities.

Many residents in Neighbourhood Renewal face multiple barriers to participate in employment and learning. These include:

• A lack of engagement and support from employment and training service providers
• Health and personal problems
• A lack of access to affordable childcare
• Caring responsibilities
• A local culture of welfare dependency
• A lack of supportive work and learning models, often resulting in inter-generational unemployment and welfare
• A lack of public transport to and from Neighbourhood Renewal areas to allow easy access to work and learning; and
• Low levels of education and low literacy and numeracy levels.

Neighbourhood Renewal is helping residents move from welfare to work by engaging them at the local level and empowering them through work and learning opportunities.

Key actions and achievements

Neighbourhood Renewal is investing in place-based responses and strategies to improve access to and create local employment and learning opportunities and improve educational outcomes. Although these strategies vary to reflect local challenges and assets, key actions and achievements to date include:

• Employment and Learning Coordinator Network
• Employment and Community Infrastructure
• Skills Register
• Office of Housing Works Program
• Public Tenant Employment Program
• Workforce Participation Partnerships
• Employment Support Initiative
• Social Enterprise
• Education

Employment and Learning Coordinator Network

Employment and Learning Coordinators are promoting partnerships between agencies, attracting investment to Neighbourhood Renewal communities, working with local employers to expand job opportunities and developing local enterprises.

Neighbourhood Renewal invests over $1.2M each year in the Employment and Learning Coordinator initiative to respond to the gap in the delivery of mainstream employment and learning services.

Seventeen dedicated Employment and Learning Coordinators are working with 19 communities to help link residents to improved employment and learning opportunities.

Employment and Community Infrastructure

Across Victoria, Neighbourhood Renewal is building social infrastructure to encourage investment and build local economic capacity. These developments are attracting services that help improve residents' employment and learning opportunities.

A focus of activity in many Neighbourhood Renewal projects has been the development of community hubs. These take many forms including Neighbourhood Houses, shop fronts, information resource centres and enterprise incubators. The Hubs allow employment and other support organisations to maintain a local presence in the community and provide residents with better access to services.

Skills Register

Neighbourhood Renewal currently operates a Skills Survey. It is part of the infrastructure  that links other employment and learning strategies and structures to support Neighbourhood Renewal residents into employment and training.

The register provides a map of existing skills and experience within the community, barriers to participating in education, employment and learning as well resident interests and aspirations. To date over 2000 residents across the State have registered.

Office of Housing Works Program

The State Government is funding immediate improvements to Office of Housing properties in Neighbourhood Renewal areas. These improvements include things like fencing, house maintenance, renovations and landscaping. They provide local employment, training and enterprise opportunities for Neighbourhood Renewal residents.

Eleven community works enterprises have been established and one is in development in Neighbourhood Renewal areas across the State. The enterprises were created to undertake minor capital works on public housing properties and have branched out to take on additional work in their local area. 

Public Tenant Employment Program

The Public Tenant Employment Program (PTEP) has been developed to help people living in public housing across Victoria find jobs.

A Public Tenant Employment clause has been included in all Office of Housing contracts for cleaning and gardening services. The clause requires all contractors to employ one third of their workforce as tenant employees. In turn, contractors are eligible for various services including job advertising, candidate screening, pre-vocational training and wage-subsidies.
To date, 148 jobs have been created for public housing tenants, including 52 public housing tenants from Neighbourhood Renewal areas.

Workforce Participation Partnerships

Workforce Participation Partnerships are helping job seekers who face barriers to employment find jobs in areas of skills and labour shortages.
The projects are run by local partnerships that bring together industry, local government, training providers, employment services, community organisations, unions and employers.

The government initiative, which will create over 400 jobs, follows on from the successful Community Jobs Program that operated until 2005. The Community Jobs Program created employment for over 3,700 participants in 235 projects, including 850 residents living in and around Neighbourhood Renewal areas.

Employment Support Initiative

Neighbourhood Renewal's Employment Support Initiative connects residents with job opportunities and sustainable employment. Each Neighbourhood Renewal project, in consultation with local employers, must ensure training and work experiences lead to real jobs.

In 2006-07 the Employment Support Initiative is expected to help 120 residents across the State find work in areas facing skill and labour shortages.

Social Enterprise

Neighbourhood Renewal is supporting social enterprises that offer residents the opportunity to gain new skills, increase their confidence and enter the workforce.

A Community Enterprise Development Initiative (CEDI) partnership involving the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Department for Victorian Communities and local lead agencies is supporting this social enterprise strategy.

To date, 23 enterprises have been established and a further seven are being developed in Neighbourhood Renewal areas across the State. Enterprises cover a range of industries including light manufacturing, catering and housing and maintenance services.

Education

Education and training is critical in enhancing the employment opportunities for Neighbourhood Renewal residents.

Neighbourhood Renewal provides a platform to develop partnerships between schools, education and training organisations, businesses and the community to address identified areas of disadvantage and be more responsive to community goals.

Contacts

For more information on Neighbourhood Renewal's Employment, Learning and Education strategies, please contact:

Simon Scrase
Manager, Education, Employment & Health Development
Telephone: 9096 8184
Email: Simon.Scrase@dhs.vic.gov.au

Catherine McGrath
Project Manager
Employment & Learning
Telephone: 9096 9719
Email: Catherine.McGrath@dhs.vic.gov.au