You’re never too old to learn something new and with many older Australians struggling to find work the Government has decided to kick-start a ‘back to work’ initiative for the over 55s.
The Morrison Government will spend $3 million to shift 500 older Australians — many of them women facing homelessness — off welfare and into the workforce, however, he’s pushing back against pressure to raise Newstart for the same age group.
The trials to be held in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide and part of a wider $48.5 million packaged to get disadvantaged Australians back into work will provide counselling and training for work in the hospitality, aged-care and small business sectors.
Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the ‘Try, Test and Learn’ program would help the government collect evidence on the best way to get older Australians back on track.
Ms Ruston told The Australian,
“All Australians want to build stable and self-sufficient lives for themselves and their families. The Morrison government understands mature-age Australians face specific barriers to employment and we are investing in four projects to find new ways to support older people to get a job.
We know older people who go on to working-age payments such as Newstart are more likely to stay on welfare for longer, so we are focused on finding ways to support these people back into the workforce.”
There’s already a Griffith University trial up and running that trains older women on how to start their own small businesses, a Council of the Ageing scheme in Melbourne and an Adelaide counselling program for long-term unemployed people.
Meanwhile, in the Two Good Kitchen in Sydney’s inner south, women are getting 16-week paid training to learn how to be cooks and kitchenhands.
One of the women taking advantage of the scheme is 52-year-old Tracey who has been in and out of prison and struggled with drug addiction. She says working at Two Good Kitchen has turned her life around.
She says, “I’ve made friends for life with these girls. It’s so good for us.”
Susie, 38, has been in a homeless shelter since she arrived in Sydney from South Sudan, and said the program was helping her to integrate with Australians.
Susie says, “It has been so amazing to work here, Two Good are my Australian family.”
