The current unemployment rate is around 5.3%, going up around 0.1% since April with struggling industries including retail and hospitality. These industries are struggling because there are many people applying for these types of jobs but the industry growth is weak and there a very few full time positions, mainly casual positions. However there are a few industries that need more people, and these include aged care, trades and truck drivers. There is an increasing number of elderly people going into aged care and therefore there is a demand for people, but to work in aged care you will need a certificate such as first aid, diploma or certificate 3/4 in aged care. To become a tradie you will need to complete an apprenticeship in you desired field such as plumbing, or complete a certificate 3/4. Many trades have very strong growth and high wages for experienced and qualified people. There is some labouring type work that doesn’t require experience but you will need a white card for some trades. To become a truck driver you will need a license and you can do this by attending a special driving school. Overall full time employment has fallen. Part time employment has risen.
Many people who are unemployed often turn to the government for assistance. The current statistics for people on government assistance is 15% of newstart recipients have been on the payment for more than 5 years and in March 2018 64% of people receiving a newstart payment had been on it for more than a year. At the same time 44% of recipients had received it for more than two years. Of the people receiving newstart payments 49% were over 45 years old, including 22% were over the age of 55, 29% had a disability, 16% were principal carers of children and 21% were from culturally diverse backgrounds. Many people think that there is not enough funding and support from the government to help people find work and that more can be done, such as lowering the cost for courses and providing more job matching services.
