Brimbank has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the state, at 17.3 per cent last year according to Brotherhood of St Lawrence research, prompting fears of youth disengagement.
Youth Now, a Sunshine-based youth employment provider, decided to tackle the problem by finding ways to make local jobseekers more employable.
Two years of planning and research have finally come to fruition, with the opening of the Hatch Youth Innovation Hub at the Visy Cares Hub on June 16.
Youth Now chief executive Colleen Bergin said the hub was designed to connect young people from Melbourne’s west to the entrepreneurial and start-up sectors, and give them job pathways. Programs on offer will include robotics and media studies, and will be geared for people aged 15-30.
