By Sumeyya Ilanbey
No jobs – at least none residents are qualified to do – and a dearth of training explains Melton’s 7.6 per cent unemployment rate, peak body Leadwest claims.
While overall unemployment in the municipality seems less because of lower numbers in Caroline Springs (five per cent) and Hillside (4.6), the rest of Melton is struggling.
At June 30 this year, unemployment at Melton itself was 12.2 per cent, 11.2 per cent at Melton South, 11 per cent at Rockbank, and 9.5 per cent at Melton West.
Leadwest chief executive Craig Rowley said there were much higher rates of unemployment in particular “hotspots” because of housing affordability. “Housing contributes to the clustering of unemployment rates as disadvantaged workers seek cheaper housing,” he said. “Data on tenure of housing and average weekly rent prices in Melbourne’s west suggests that the clustering of unemployed people is related to housing affordability.”
Mr Rowley said there weren’t enough jobs being created in areas where there were unemployment “clusters”,
while those jobs that are available require skills unemployed locals do not have. According to the data, Melton had the highest rates of unemployment after Brimbank (9.9 per cent). Maribyrnong (7.3 per cent) and Wyndham (7 per cent) followed.
Mr Rowley said more jobs were urgently needed in the west, while access to workplaces in neighbouring regions needed to be improved and working-age people needed to be equipped with the skills to do those jobs.
“Melbourne’s west has a growing and increasingly qualified workforce,” he said.
“But the current rate of population growth is outstripping the creation of local jobs.
“We need the three tiers of government, the region’s businesses and the communities here all continuing to work together to facilitate investment in Melbourne’s west that will grow the number of local jobs for local people.”
Mr Rowley said that while there was major investment in the region and new infrastructure projects under way, a greater variety of jobs needed to be created in the suburbs.
Mr Rowley said job creation in the west could grow the economy, relieve transport congestion and “increase livability for everyone”.
“We need to encourage investment and showcase what Melbourne’s west has to offer to potential employers,” he said.
