It’s been a big month for Eurobodalla Council’s Employment Revolution, with the project winning a prestigious award as well as funding to extend its youth jobs project for a further 12 months.
The Eurobodalla Employment Revolution partners with local employers, government, agencies and education providers to connect job seekers with employment and training opportunities.
It had two focuses; filling jobs in health and community services, Eurobodalla’s fastest growing employment sector, and connecting people aged 15 to 24 with training and job opportunities.
While the component focussing on the health sector wrapped up in June, the NSW Government recently allocated $150,000 to continue the team’s work to improve employment outcomes for youth.
The announcement came as the project was chosen from 182 entries to win the Community Partnerships and Collaboration award of the NSW Local Government Professionals Awards, in the 60,000 population and under category.
Council’s community development manager Kim Bush was thrilled by the news of the award – but she’s even more thrilled by the project team’s achievements.
“This award is a real testament to the role of local government in being able to collaborate and partner with existing organisations and business in our community to deliver improved local employment outcomes,” she said.
“In such a short time the small but hardworking team was able to make a real impact into improving unemployment in Eurobodalla and upskilling our local job seekers, while importantly working with industry to support local workforce needs.”
One of the project’s original targets was to get 50 young people into jobs to reduce Eurobodalla’s local youth employment by 3 per cent.
“We ended up helping 88 young people into jobs, a fantastic achievement, and we also helped another 110 people into jobs in the health and community services sector,” Ms Bush said.
Some of the project’s initiatives over the past 18 months included an innovative youth traineeship program, a successful health jobs expo, a 70-page health and human services career guide, a Jobs and Training Facebook page, weekly jobs and training email updates, as well as ongoing personalised support and advice to both businesses and job seekers.
Ms Bush said the team was planning to open a “youth job shop” in Moruya soon. It will also go on to compete at the National Awards for Local Government later this year.
The Eurobodalla Employment Revolution is funded through the Australian Government’s Regional Jobs and Investment Program and the Regional Employment Trials program, the NSW Department of Education and Eurobodalla Council.
For more information about the project visit www.esc.nsw.gov.au/revolution or www.facebook.com/EurobodallaJobsandTraining
Above: Members of Eurobodalla Council’s Employment Revolution team, community development manager Kim Bush, employment projects officer Amy Kovaks and employment projects coordinator Rhonnie South, were stoked to win a prestigious local government award and extended project funding this month. (File photo pre-Covid).
