NEWS DESK
Rental affordability ‘crisis’ hits home
Skills that count for jobs hunt LIKE so many young people, school just didn’t cut it for Frankston teenagers Jessica and Adam, but that’s not the end of the story thanks to a program that is helping them learn valuable employment skills. Young people in the Frankston area who have been disengaged from school for 18 months or more are being given an opportunity to explore career options away from the confines of school thanks to a new pre-apprenticeship program funded by the Apprenticeship Employment Network (AEN), in partnership with the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Skillinvest program developer Jarrod Flanigan said the program was designed to assist young people who had become disengaged from formal education and were unsure of where to go from there. The program allows participants to try different jobs in the building and construction, automotive and business trades and combines theory and structured work placement. Jessica and Adam are among ten participants between 15 and 22 enrolled in the program, which runs for 15 weeks. Program manager Dale Gemmell said the program was designed to guide students to an area of work they are interested in so they can be assisted to continue their training and secure a fulltime apprenticeship. Jessica, a mother-of-one, said the inflexible structure of school didn’t fit with her situation, and she felt her options were
FRANKSTON
Stephen Taylor steve@baysidenews.com.au
Pointer to future: Jessica and Adam, with program developer Jarrod Flanigan, have learned new skills that will help them find work. Picture: Gary Sissons
limited until she came across the preapprenticeship program. She has had the chance to learn some practical building and construction skills and has completed a cubby that will be donated to the childcare centre her son attends. Now that she has finished the construction elements, Jessica moves on to automotive, which she feels will be her career path. “I have learned things I never would have experienced before, and it’s given me practical skills and well as confidence.” she said. Adam, 22, who had not been in formal
education for more than six years, said the program gave him a chance to start and finish an entire project, and re-engage with learning in a positive way. “School just wasn’t for me, I was always getting into trouble and couldn’t focus, but this program is so different and it’s about learning interesting, practical things.” Mr Flanigan said both students had shown a strong commitment to learning. “These kids have been fantastic and it just shows what you can achieve when you get the support and you find the right path.” Liz Bell
RENTAL affordability in Frankston has hit historic lows, according to new data from the Department of Human Services. Reports for the December quarter show private rental affordability is on a steady decline in Frankston as the housing affordability ‘crisis’ creeps to the outer suburbs. “People on very low incomes are being pushed out of the private rental market, and have very few accommodation options left because there’s insufficient public housing,” Council to Homeless Persons CEO Jenny Smith said. “Consequently we’re seeing more ‘rough’ sleeping, as well as hidden forms of homelessness.” Ms Smith said the data “painted a pretty dire picture for people on low incomes trying to get into private rental or public housing”. It shows there were only two one-bedroom rentals affordable to a Newstart recipient last quarter in Frankston. “And yet, when we look at public housing waiting lists in the Frankston region, it’s clear that there is not enough public housing for the most vulnerable people.”
Ms Smith said 1807 people were waiting for public housing in the Bayside/Peninsula (Frankston) region. “In our state Budget submission, CHP has called for 10,000 more one-bedroom public housing dwellings over the next five years,” she said. “With the current spate of announcements from the state government on initiatives that will boost housing affordability, we are now waiting on the federal government to reveal its plans to increase social housing for those on low incomes.” The DHS Rent report, for December 2016, shows the number of one- and two-bedroom rental properties that would be affordable to a single person on a Centrelink pension in Frankston. In 2011 the figure for a onebedroom property was none; in 2015 it was two and last year it was again two. The figure for two bedroom properties was 43 in 2011; 35 in 2015 and 24 last year. The figure for all rentals was steadily trending down, from 220 in 2011; 174 in 2015 and 111 last year. Ms Smith said: “We must join the dots between housing affordability and homelessness, and rental affordability is key.”
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