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Contact: Kelvin Tori LA EIC - Disadvantaged Jobseekers Inquiry Chief Executive Officer Submission no. 30 l\I E I, T O N Melton City Council Received: 30 July 2019

Telephone:

To the Committee,

Melton City Council (Council) welcomes the opportunity to address the Parliamentary Inquiry into Sustainable Employment for Disadvantaged Jobseekers. Council has a long standing commitment to addressing disadvantage, social exclusion and associated barriers to employment and commends the Victorian Government for taking this very important step to exploring sustainable employment pathways and solutions.

As an accredited UNESCO Learning City, this Council is a committed essential partner in the delivering lifelong learning opportunity, place based community building and evidenced based evaluation to support the local community to find meaningful employment. As the arm of government closest to the community, and given the nature by which Council staff work with individuals, families and community organisations, Council is ideally suited to support community based responses that promote pathways to sustainable employment. Council is also uniquely placed to challenge attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate barriers to existing employment or limit the opening up of future employment pathways. Council acknowledges the application and use of the term 'disadvantage' is a value laden one. Council understands that disadvantage does not arise from the absence of income alone, but rather the lack of employment opportunity, capacity and access. In this regard, Council understands that barriers to sustainable employment can be systemic, geographical and socially determined. For this reason, Council understands the multidisciplinary and multi-layered nature of responses required to bridge the access to employment gap for community generally, while understanding the individual and nuanced needs of community members experiencing barriers the most-people identified as disadvantaged. Council welcomes the recommendations from this Inquiry and look forward to outcomes that have a preventative focus and lead to a long-term, coordinated and resourced approach to eradicating and overcoming barriers to sustainable employment for this community. Please find attached our response to this important Inquiry.

Kelvin Tori Chief Executive Officer

A thriving community Civic Centre Postal Address (). ·.; 0 where everyone belongs 0 0 Melton City Council

Submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Sustainable Employment for Disadvantaged Jobseekers

July 2019

For more information contact: Melton City Council Social Planning and Wellbeing (03) 9747 7200

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Contents Overview of the City of Melton ...... 4 Planning the City for local employment ...... 5 Where will future employment be located in the City of Melton? ...... 5 Related challenges for Melton as a growth Council ...... 6 Interface Councils Human Services Gap Analysis (2017) ...... 7 Defining disadvantage ...... 7 How the City of Melton understands and responds to ‘disadvantage’ ...... 7 Disadvantage within Melton ...... 7 Council’s role ...... 8 Social Procurement Framework ...... 9 The employment environment in the City of Melton ...... 11 Qualifications ...... 12 Highest level of Schooling ...... 12 Institution attending ...... 13 Need for Assistance ...... 14 Travel to work ...... 14 Travel and transport modelling ...... 15 Employment programs ...... 16 Which jobseekers face higher barriers to employment? ...... 17 Compounding barriers to employment ...... 17 What support is needed? ...... 18 Cultural and Linguistic Diversity – addressing additional barriers ...... 18 What could we do more of now? ...... 19 Additional Notes ...... 21 Melton: A City for All People ...... 21 Melton is a Learning City and committed to Lifelong Learning ...... 22 Lifelong Learning Plan and implementation ...... 22

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Overview of the City of Melton The City of Melton is located in Melbourne’s outer west, in one of the fastest growing regions in Australia. The 2018/19 growth rate was 5.4 per cent and the population is 164,984.1 The municipality has a SEIFA rating of 981, making it the 5th most disadvantaged municipality in metropolitan Melbourne.2 The municipality consists of the Melton Township, the Eastern Corridor – which has developed rapidly over the past 10-15 years, a number of isolated townships and rural areas. The Melton major activity centre is around 35 kilometres north-west of Melbourne’s CBD. It has a large culturally and linguistically diverse population that continues to grow.

New arrivals to the City tend to be young couples with or intending to have young children, making the City’s population one of the youngest in Victoria. The median age of residents was 31 years at the time of the 2016 Census and more than 60 per cent of the population were aged under 40 years. Almost half (43 per cent) of all households were couples with children, and each week 42 babies were being born to parents residing in the City.

More than 30,000 people were born overseas, representing more than 130 different nations. A particularly large number of the City’s residents were born in India, the Philippines, New Zealand, Malta and Vietnam. In recent years, the City has welcomed an increase of people

1 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016) Census of Population and Housing, ABS: Canberra, available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/census 2 Ibid. 4 from African and Asian nations through skilled migration, family reunion and refugee immigration streams, adding further to the City’s cultural diversity. Planning the City for local employment Council is planning for future growth for our established, rural and growth areas. This involves planning for future residential development and employment to ensure that jobs will be closer to home. The City of Melton currently has a population of 164,984 people (January 2019), and will reach an ultimate population of over 500,000 people over the next 40 years. Currently, nearly three out of four residents (73 per cent) who are employed work outside the municipality. An additional 5.2 per cent have no fixed place of work but also work outside the municipality. Workplace destination data shows that both groups regularly travel long distances to their workplaces with average commuting times of 90 minutes plus per day. The growth of the municipality will increase the pressure on transport systems; consequently, increasing local employment is vital.3

As one of metropolitan Melbourne’s designated growth areas, development is guided through the West Growth Corridor Plan, the Sunbury Growth Corridor Plan and Precinct Structure Plans (PSPs).

Growth Corridor Plans are high level integrated land use and transport plans that provide a long term strategy for the development of Melbourne’s growth areas. The West Growth Corridor Plan which covers the municipalities of Melton and Wyndham, and the Sunbury Growth Corridor Plan that covers Diggers Rest and Sunbury, assessed how much employment land was needed to support the future residents of the growth areas.

The Growth Corridor Plans identify a variety of employment land uses such as industrial precincts, business precincts, and a hierarchy of activity centres within the municipality.

Growth Corridor plans inform the PSP process. PSPs are more detailed long term plans that set out how areas within the growth corridors are to be developed. The preparation of PSPs are usually led by the Victorian Planning Authority in close consultation with Council.

PSPs identify land uses and infrastructure that facilitate holistic communities such as residential areas, open space, activity centres, employment areas, community centres, and the transport system required to support development. PSPs also protect important biodiversity habitats and identify future transport infrastructure such as train stations and future bus routes.

Where will future employment be located in the City of Melton? The City of Melton currently has 10 approved PSPs that are currently guiding development in their respective areas. Each of these approved PSPs allow the development of areas for future employment. There are two PSP areas which will provide significant employment opportunity:

3 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016) Census of Population and Housing, ABS: Canberra, available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/census 5

 The Mount Atkinson and Tarneit Plains PSP will provide approximately 19,000 jobs in the identified industrial, commercial and retail precincts. The employment generated by this PSP will contribute to the State Significant Western Industrial Node.  The Toolern PSP will facilitate approximately 22,000 jobs through a massive 490 hectare employment and mixed use precinct, regionally significant Metropolitan Activity Centre, and other commercial precincts. These employment areas within the Toolern PSP will provide for a variety of commercial, office, service industry and industrial jobs.  Major Activity Centres are located in the approved Plumpton, Rockbank, and Rockbank North PSP areas. Each of these centres will provide significant employment opportunities as the retail and community services provided in these centres will service 50,000 people each. The established areas within the municipality also have existing employment areas that include industrial and commercial precincts. Established employment precincts include the:  Melton Gateway Industrial Precinct,  Ravenhall Industrial Precinct,  High Street Activity Centre in Melton,  Woodgrove Activity Centre, and  Caroline Springs Activity Centre.

Related challenges for Melton as a growth Council Along with planning for the City of Melton’s growth, comes a number of opportunities and challenges. These include supporting the social cohesion of our growing and newly emerging communities, education and employment opportunities, provision and maintenance of infrastructure and open spaces, recreation and tourism opportunities, and access to services and support throughout the lifespan and a focus on ensuring people can feel and be safe. Our community is varied and as such Council seeks to engage and work together in a fair and inclusive way, appreciating that not everyone has the same background, circumstances or access to the resources required to support a healthy and thriving life.

Within the City of Melton context, the following discussion focusses on the role of Council in addressing the barriers to employment and the elements that sustain it that might be addressed and contribute to sustainable jobseeker outcomes, particularly for those at risk of disadvantage.

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Interface Councils Human Services Gap Analysis (2017)

Council is a member of the Interface Councils Group. This group commissioned a report into the Interface Councils Human Services Gap. The Interface Councils Human Services Gap Analysis (2017) demonstrated the inequitable and uneven spatial distribution of services that disadvantage Interface communities generally. It advocated for service reform and redesign, shifting and re-prioritising investment and improving service commissioning processes. It recognised however, that investing money without a proper process is not the solution and the specific needs of Melbourne’s outer suburban and growth councils need a different way of providing services.

The Interface Councils group advised State Government of its willingness to fund new solutions to the current service gaps. With a list of innovative health and human services pilot projects to manage growth differently in the region being prepared and to be included as this list of projects in the Interface Councils 2021-22 Budget Submission. This list is proposed to support the request that the existing Growing Suburbs Fund be expanded to include an additional $20 million for these projects specifically. These projects aim to address key service needs in the region by implementing local commissioning models that are not used presently.

Defining disadvantage How the City of Melton understands and responds to ‘disadvantage’ How disadvantage is defined within the local City of Melton context, is an important start in addressing the Parliamentary Inquiry. The Productivity Commissions’ Staff Working Paper on Deep and Persistent Disadvantage in Australia (2013) is informative in Council’s understanding in this area, as well as how disadvantage relates to sustainable employment, supportive capability pathways and social inclusion outcomes for community.

Disadvantage is traditionally linked to constructions of poverty, and poverty is defined as inadequate resources or low income. Low income in itself does not necessarily establish disadvantage. Income is a partial measure taken at a point in time. Some individuals might experience a temporary loss of income, but have access to assets or borrowings.

Rather the application of ‘disadvantage’ as a descriptor, is more closely associated with an ‘impoverished life’ (including a lack of opportunities), rather than a lack of income alone. Hence, Council associates disadvantage with this broader construction and the various barriers and pathways toward, and out of vulnerability and disadvantage.

Disadvantage within Melton The Melton Local Government Area (LGA) has an overall SEIFA index rating of 981 and is the fifth most disadvantaged municipality within the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area. However, the aggregated figure obscures the levels of extreme disadvantage being experienced within pockets of the Melton municipality. Low scores on the index occur when 7 the area has many low income families and people with little training and in unskilled occupations, as well as children in households with jobless parents. The areas experiencing extreme comparative disadvantage within the Melton LGA include Rockbank (852.2), Melton South (85.9.3), Melton (866.5), Melton West (932.2), and Kurunjang (938.5). 4 Overcoming the disproportionate levels of disadvantage will require a targeted and localised approach to ensure there is equity of opportunity for employment for all Melton residents.

Small Area Labour Market data supplied by the Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business highlight the issue of unemployment within the Melton municipality. The data for the March 2019 quarter shows the unemployment rate for the Greater Melbourne area was 4.8 per cent. The comparative unemployment for the Melton LGA is significantly higher at 6.7 per cent. However, the aggregated LGA data obscures the disproportionately high unemployment rates of some areas within Melton. The SA2 level data reveals the areas of Melton, Melton South, and Rockbank – Mount Cottrell have unemployment rates of 15.1 per cent, 10.5 per cent and 7.4 per cent respectively. These SA2 data indicate that some parts of the municipality are experiencing greater barriers to employment than others.5

Melton also has higher than average youth unemployment. Current disaggregated data for age are not currently available in the Small Area Labour Market data. However, the 2016 ABS Census of Population and Housing revealed the unemployment rate for all residents identifying as in the workforce and aged 15 years and over to be 7.6 per cent. In comparison, the unemployment rate for those aged 15 to 24 years was 17.1 per cent. Within Melton, some areas experienced much higher levels of youth unemployment rates, such as Melton South (22.2 per cent), Taylors Hill (19.9 per cent) and Melton (18.9 per cent). It is likely that this pattern has remained, which would therefore give Melton a current youth unemployment rate of between 15 and 20 per cent, with some areas within Melton likely to have youth unemployment rates exceeding 20 per cent.

Council’s role Council plays a critical role on focussing on overcoming identified barriers and providing equitable access as a fundamental principle in Council’s capacity building approach. This higher order role is reflected in the Council and Wellbeing Plan 2017-2021, Intercultural Plan, the Interfaith Plan, Equality and Respect Strategy and the Proud City, Safe Community Plan (in development).

Council’s community building approach, is evidenced particularly through the place based local community centre and neighbourhood house programming and activation, and the critical role that recreation and leisure infrastructure plays in connecting community.

4 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016) Census of Population and Housing, ABS: Canberra, available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/census 5 Small Area Labour Markets, March 2019, Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, available at https://www.employment.gov.au/small-area-labour-markets-publication 8

Council delivers an advocacy campaign with key priorities in infrastructure and service delivery to minimise the impact of disadvantage through accessibility, isolation and distance that limits availability of employment opportunities to residents. This includes public transport, precinct planning including a new Hospital and commercial investment attraction.

The City of Melton is committed to lifelong learning to support the local community to gain meaningful employment. It was conferred the UNESCO Lifelong City Award in 2015.

Social Procurement Framework Melton City Councils’ role in securing social and economic outcomes for the local community through procurement practices is articulated in its Social Procurement (SP) Framework.

This Framework acknowledges that under the Local Government Act 1989, Victorian councils have a responsibility to properly manage public goods, resources, and/or facilities in a way that supports sustainable development objectives and promotes the public interest. Social procurement can achieve the best overall cost-benefit outcome if the benefits and costs are assessed in more than monetary terms.

Definition of Social Procurement Social procurement is a strategic approach to meeting social objectives through procurement. Social procurement involves using procurement processes and purchasing power to generate positive social outcomes for the local community in addition to the delivery of efficient goods, services and works.

Social procurement aims to connect local community members with meaningful work and skill development opportunities arising from the procurement contract. For the City of Melton, it aims to level the barriers for people who identify as experiencing one or more of the following social characteristics:  A person whom identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander;  A person whom identifies as a person with a disability or as being in need of additional personal support to realise equitable access to employment or pathways to requisite skills advancement opportunities;  A person who was not born in Australia, including new arrivals, refugees and skilled migrants where qualifications may not be readily translated within Australia.  A young person who is not currently engaged or is at risk of becoming disengaged from ongoing education, training or workforce opportunities.  A person who has experienced a prolonged period of absence for the workforce, due to ill health, labour force shortages, skills matching misalignment, parental leave or relocation from another community.

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 People who have relocated to the municipality as a result of incarceration, community based order, or family violence order, either personally or as a result of immediate family connection; and identifies as experiencing barriers to employment or skills development opportunities.  A person who has retired or semi-retired from the workforce seeking to apply or adapt existing skills and aptitude to a meaningful social benefit or community program deliverable.

Melton City Council’s Social Procurement Policy seeks to support Council’s objectives towards social procurement including:  To enhance direct employment and traineeship opportunities for specific target population sectors within the municipality.  To incorporate Social Procurement practices in Council business through Council contracts.  To ensure the following key success factors are implemented where Social Procurement occurs; - Customised pre-employment training and preparation for jobseekers - Tailored preparation and support for employers - Supported work placement and - Post work place transition

Through its Social Procurement Framework, Melton City Council proposes to do this through a range of methods including:  procuring from local social benefit suppliers where such purchases may be justified on a “Best Value” basis and are competitive across a range of evaluation criteria;  procuring from local businesses (as above);  inclusion of social benefit clauses in tenders and contracts to provide employment and training opportunities for specific community groups who would otherwise find it difficult to find employment in the job; and  Engagement of social enterprises to deliver Council services.

The Framework applies to identified long term contracts and tenders (minimum five years) across Council including but not limited to parks, open space, tree maintenance, road and drainage maintenance, graffiti removal, building maintenance and cleaning. Internal traineeships and Capital Works contracts are excluded from the scope of this framework.

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The employment environment in the City of Melton The 2016 Census analysis of employment sectors and occupations, held by the resident population in City of Melton shows the top five industry sectors were:  Retail Trade (6,554 people or 10.9%)  Health Care and Social Assistance (6,442 people or 10.7%)  Transport, Postal and Warehousing (6,242 people or 10.4%)  Construction (6,075 people of 10.1%)  Manufacturing (5,164 people or 8.6%). In combination, these five industries employed 30,477 people in total or 50.7 per cent of the total employed resident population. In comparison, Greater Melbourne employed 10.1 per cent in Retail Trade; 12.0 per cent in Health Care and Social Assistance; and 5.0 per cent in Transport, Postal and Warehousing. The major differences between the jobs held by the population of the City of Melton and Greater Melbourne were:  A larger percentage of persons employed in transport, postal and warehousing (10.4% compared to 5.0%)  A larger percentage of persons employed in construction (10.1% compared to 8.2%)  A smaller percentage of persons employed in professional, scientific and technical services (4.8% compared to 9.0%) and  A smaller percentage of persons employed in education and training (7.0% compared to 8.6%) Emerging groups The number of employed people in City of Melton increased by 9,074 between 2011 and 2016. The largest changes in the jobs held by the resident population between 2011 and 2016 in the City of Melton were for those employed in: Health Care and Social Assistance (+1,701 persons)  Manufacturing (-1,288 persons)  Education and Training (+1,122 persons)

 Transport, Postal and Warehousing (+1,085 persons)

The 2016 Census revealed three dominant occupations as:

 Clerical and Administrative Workers (9,503 people or 15.8%)  Technicians and Trades Workers (8,882 people or 14.8%), and  Professionals (8,871 people or 14.8%) In combination these three occupations accounted for 27,256 people in total or 45.4 per cent of the employed resident population. In comparison, Greater Melbourne employed 13.9 per cent in Clerical and Administrative Workers; 12.6 per cent in Technicians and Trades Workers; and 25 per cent in Professionals.

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The major differences between the jobs held by the population of the City of Melton and Greater Melbourne were:

A larger percentage of persons employed as:

 Machinery Operators And Drivers (10.7% compared to 5.6%) and

 Technicians and Trades Workers (14.8% compared to 12.6%)

A smaller percentage of persons employed as:

 Professionals (14.8% compared to 25.0%)

 Managers (10.3% compared to 13.2%)

Emerging groups The number of employed people in City of Melton increased by 9,086 between 2011 and 2016. The largest changes in the occupations of residents between 2011 and 2016 in the City of Melton were for those employed as:  Community and Personal Service Workers (+1,777 persons)  Professionals (+1,676 persons)  Managers (+1,225 persons)  Sales Workers (+1,179 persons)

Qualifications Overall, 45.7 per cent of the population aged 15 and over held educational qualifications, and 44.2 per cent had no qualifications, (compared with 52.2% and 38.6% respectively for Greater Melbourne). The major differences between qualifications held by the population of the City of Melton and Greater Melbourne were: A larger percentage of persons with  No qualifications (44.2% compared to 38.6%) and  Vocational qualifications (20.6% compared to 15.3%) A smaller percentage of persons with Bachelor or Higher degrees (16.0% compared to 27.5%) Emerging groups The largest changes in the qualifications of the population in the City of Melton between 2011 and 2016 were in those with:  No qualifications (+5,511 persons)  Bachelor or Higher degrees (+5,220 persons)  Vocational qualifications (+4,811 persons) and  Advanced Diploma or Diplomas (+3,220 persons) Highest level of Schooling Analysis of the highest level of schooling attained by the population in the City of Melton in 2016 compared to Greater Melbourne shows that there was a higher proportion of people

12 who had left school at an early level (Year 10 or less) and a lower proportion of people who completed Year 12 or equivalent. Overall, 28.3 per cent of the population left school at Year 10 or below, and 50.9 per cent went on to complete Year 12 or equivalent (compared with 22.9% and 59.4% respectively for Greater Melbourne).

The major differences between the level of schooling attained by the population in the City of Melton and Greater Melbourne were: A larger percentage of persons who completed:  year 10 or equivalent (15.5% compared to 11.4%)  year 11 or equivalent (12.3% compared to 10.2%) and  9 or equivalent (6.4% compared to 4.9%) A smaller percentage of persons who completed year 12 or equivalent (50.9% compared to 59.4%) Emerging groups The largest changes in the level of schooling attained by the population in the City of Melton, between 2011 and 2016 were:  Year 12 or equivalent (+13,682 persons)  Year 10 or equivalent (+1,900 persons)  Year 11 or equivalent (+1,294 persons) and  Year 9 or equivalent (+730 persons) Institution attending Analysis of the share of the population attending educational institutions in the City of Melton in 2016 compared to Greater Melbourne shows that there was a higher proportion attending primary school, a higher proportion attending secondary school, and a lower proportion engaged in tertiary level education.

Overall, 10.7 per cent of the population were attending primary school, 7.2 per cent of the population were attending secondary institutions, and 5.1 per cent were learning at a tertiary level, compared with 7.9 per cent, 6.1 per cent and 8.2 per cent respectively for Greater Melbourne.

The major differences between the share of the population attending learning institutions in the City of Melton and Greater Melbourne were:

A larger percentage of persons attending:

 a Government primary school (10.7% compared to 7.9%)  a Catholic primary school (7.1% compared to 5.3%)

A smaller percentage of persons attending University (3.5% compared to 6.4%) A smaller percentage of persons not attending (66.4% compared to 68.6%)

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Emerging groups From 2011 to 2016, City of Melton's population increased by 26,197 people (+24.0%). This represents an average annual change of 4.39 per cent per year over the period.

The largest changes in the number of persons attending education institutions in the City of Melton, between 2011 and 2016 were in those who nominated:  Primary school (+3,847 persons)  Primary - Government (+2,785 persons)  Secondary school (+2,299 persons)

 University (+1,784 persons) Need for Assistance Analysis of the 2016 Census need for assistance information of people in the City of Melton compared to Greater Melbourne shows that there was a similar proportion of people who reported needing assistance with core activities. Overall, 4.8834% of the population reported needing assistance with core activities, compared with 4.8636% for Greater Melbourne. The major differences in the age groups reporting a need for assistance in the City of Melton and Greater Melbourne were:  A larger percentage of persons aged 85 and over (57.8% compared to 49.0%)  A larger percentage of persons aged 75 to 79 (25.1% compared to 18.4%)  A larger percentage of persons aged 70 to 74 (17.7% compared to 11.5%)  A larger percentage of persons aged 65 to 69 (13.3% compared to 8.0%)

Emerging groups The major differences in the age groups reporting a need for assistance between 2011 and 2016 in the City of Melton were in the age groups:  20 to 59 (+688 persons)  65 to 69 (+287 persons)  10 to 19 (+259 persons)  70 to 74 (+218 persons) Travel to work In 2016, there were 5,954 people who caught public transport to work (train, bus, tram or ferry) in City of Melton, compared with 45,468 who drove in private vehicles (car – as driver, car – as passenger, motorbike, or truck).

Analysis of the method of travel to work of the residents in the City of Melton in 2016, compared to Greater Melbourne, shows that 9.9 per cent used public transport, while 75.7 per cent used a private vehicle, compared with 15.4 per cent and 65.0 per cent respectively in Greater Melbourne. The major differences in persons between the method of travel to work of the City of Melton and Greater Melbourne were: 14

 A larger percentage of persons who travelled by car (as driver) (69.8% compared to 60.2%)  A smaller percentage of persons who travelled by train (9.1% compared to 11.5%)  A smaller percentage of persons who travelled by tram or ferry (0.1% compared to 2.4%) and  A smaller percentage of persons who walked only (0.8% compared to 3.0%) Emerging groups The number of employed people in City of Melton increased by 9,080 between 2011 and 2016. The largest changes in the method of travel to work by resident population in the City of Melton between 2011 and 2016 were for those nominated:

 Car - as driver (+6,705 persons)  Train (+1,437 persons)  Worked at home (+505 persons)  Did not go to work (+391 persons)

Travel and transport modelling State-Wide Victorian Integrated Transport Modelling (S-VITM) conducted by GTA Consultants in 2018 reveals that although the City of Melton is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia, jobs growth is not keeping up at the same rate.

S-VITM indicates that the City of Melton currently has the lowest rate of employment per household in the Melbourne metropolitan area, at 0.61 jobs. This is less than half the average of 1.33 jobs per household.

As population growth in the municipality outstrips the growth in employment opportunities, jobs per household are expected to be reduced to 0.59 by 2031, whilst metropolitan Melbourne will increase to 1.39 jobs per household over the same period. As a result, residents of the City of Melton will need to continue to travel considerable distances to access employment compared to other municipalities.

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Jobs Per Household

LGA 2016 2021 2031

Melton 0.61 0.61 0.59

Darebin 0.87 0.91 1.00

Wyndham 1.01 0.96 0.94

Maribyrnong 1.19 1.15 1.11

Port Phillip 1.22 1.34 1.50

Greater Dandenong 1.32 1.80 1.81

Monash 1.63 1.65 1.86

Melbourne CBD 7.11 6.10 5.68

Metropolitan Melbourne 1.33 1.34 1.39 Source: GTA Consultants, (2018), State-Wide Victorian Integrated Transport Modelling (S-VITM)

Currently around three-quarters of working residents travel outside the municipality each day, with over 16 per cent of these residents working in the City of Melbourne.

Only 10.1 per cent (241,532) of all jobs available in metropolitan Melbourne are located within a 60 minute public transport commute of the City of Melton. By 2021 only 6.7 per cent (179,329) of jobs will be located within 60 mins of the municipality.6

Employment programs Evidence and community feedback suggests that local employment programs are either unsuitable for or have been poorly designed to meet the needs of disadvantaged jobseekers. Based on evidence from evaluations of employment programs and from practitioners, we argue that an employment program for jobseekers with high levels of disadvantage should substantially address their deficiencies in job readiness and skills and provide a pathway to employment via work experience. This is most likely to be feasible where programs are implemented at a local level through a partnership between service providers and employers. Why employment programs should include these elements is explained, and a variety of issues in implementing the proposed model of employment programs are discussed.7

6 GTA Consultants, (2018), State-Wide Victorian Integrated Transport Modelling (S-VITM) 7Jeff Borland, Mark Considine, Guyonne Kalb and David Ribar, What Are Best-Practice Programs for Jobseekers Facing High Barriers to Employment? Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne School of Social and Political Sciences, Melbourne, June 2016. 16

Which jobseekers face higher barriers to employment? High levels of disadvantage derived from low skills, a lack of job readiness, and/or other barriers, are often compounded by weak local labour market conditions.

First, jobseekers may have personal histories that limit their opportunity to find work. For example, growing up in a household where no one is employed may restrict a jobseeker’s awareness of what is required to be job ready, and reduce access to informal networks that may lead to jobs.

Second, personal characteristics, such as being a recent immigrant, may be associated with skill limitations such as low English proficiency. Major health issues and disability are known to be other factors that can seriously hinder job finding.

Third, low levels of education or training for people who left school early and out-dated skills for some older workers who have been retrenched may restrict jobseekers’ employment options. Jobseekers’ prospects of obtaining employment may also be adversely affected by other barriers, such as where an individual does not have a driver licence and/or a car, in which case a lack of public transport would limit the jobs for which they can apply. As well, what ultimately matters for whether an individual can obtain a job are employers’ perceptions of his or her capability.

These perceptions will to a large extent depend on the individual’s actual capability, but may also reflect employers’ attitudes, including discrimination against specific groups. For example, a view by employers that it is too costly to hire and train older workers for new jobs may over-state the actual capability gap for older workers. 8 Many of these barriers were identified by young people at the recent Youth Forum held by Melton City Council and have been identified by local community members from culturally diverse backgrounds.

Compounding barriers to employment Compounding poverty and social isolation challenges associated with disadvantage among interface councils are:  unstable family accommodation and homelessness  poor maternal & child health  childhood disability and mental health  young people disconnected from schools and community  High incidence of family violence also contributes to housing and associated issues relating to employment9 Council’s Young Communities Team recently hosted its inaugural Youth Forum, where young people shared experience of direct race based discrimination. One African Australian young male explained his frustrations that although he’d completed traffic management training,

8 Ibid. 9 422, Interface Councils Human Services Gap Analysis (2017) 17 as soon as potential employers realise he is African, tall and black, he doesn’t even get an interview. Forum discussion revealed that our young diverse communities need more employment opportunities generally. Young people in the City of Melton specifically requested initiatives to counter the negative bias, prejudice and stereotypes they experience in the job hiring and recruitment process. 10

Young people shared their views that unless you want to work in hospitality or retail, there is no work available to you locally. To look for work further away is difficult for them, because they just can’t get there. When you are too young to drive, or can’t afford a licence, let alone a car your employment options are severely limited. If you add disability or being from an African background to the mix, gaining employment is next to impossible.

What support is needed? The employment programs to assist the most disadvantaged jobseekers need to provide the following elements:

 Establish pathways to gaining experience and sustainable employment opportunity  Practical strategies to address race and religion bias and discrimination  Develop job readiness skills;  Assist in obtaining job-specific skills necessary to obtain employment;  Help place people in jobs;  Provide on-going monitoring and support in the job placement11

Cultural and Linguistic Diversity – addressing additional barriers In recognising that the 30 per cent of the City of Melton’s future population will be from culturally diverse backgrounds, we must work to identify, address and overcome the current and additional, multilayered barriers which people of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds experience in relation to employment, including:  Visa status  Lack of English Language skills  Recognition of overseas qualifications  Cultural family dynamics – gender roles- child minding  Transportation  Understand Australian corporate practices  Lack of local networks and social connections  Lack of local work experience and  Race discrimination.

10 Melton City Council Youth Forum 2019 Report 11 Adam Szirmai, Mulu Gebreeyesus, Francesca Guadagno and Bart Verspagen, 2013, Promoting Productive and Sustainable Employment: Elaborating a Knowledge and Research Agenda, Draft note, prepared for the meeting of the Knowledge Platform Development Policies, Accra, Ghana, 3-5 April, 2013 18

What could we do more of now? Additional strategies and approaches being explored by Melton City Council’s Community Planning Team Include:

 Supporting women into education/ employment – child minding  Better tailored services for disadvantaged job seekers- personal support, soft and vocational skills development and work experience with alignment to local employment opportunities.  Work with local businesses to develop cultural awareness and understand benefits of diverse workplaces  acknowledge and reward businesses who are doing well in this space, including casual employment for youth studying to gain employment experience A current Intercultural Plan project involves active engagement with partner agencies, seeking to address some of these identified barriers, current project partners include: ‐ West Justice -Employment Law train the trainer program ‐ Foundation House- Meltown- Youth mentor program ‐ Brotherhood of St Lawrence- Given the Chance program ‐ Atherston exchange to engage people of Diverse backgrounds ‐ Kowanj- recruitment agency. Engaging local recruitment agencies such as Matchworks, Salvation Army Employment Plus to take part in the Melton New and Emerging Communities Network to understand some of the challenges for the CALD community and help connect them to other services that can help support their clients.

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Reference list 422, (2017) Interface Councils Human Services Gap Analysis. Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016) Census of Population and Housing, ABS: Canberra, available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/census

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016) Census of Population and Housing, ABS: Canberra, available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/census

Adam Szirmai, Mulu Gebreeyesus, Francesca Guadagno and Bart Verspagen, 2013, Promoting Productive and Sustainable Employment: Elaborating a Knowledge and Research Agenda, Draft note, prepared for the meeting of the Knowledge Platform Development Policies, Accra, Ghana, 3-5 April, 2013

AEC Report – Melton Industry and Supply Chain and Skills Gap Assessment, Final Report, October 2014.

Employment Outlook to May 2023 Based on the Department of Jobs and Small Business’ 2018 employment projections

GTA Consultants, (2018), State-Wide Victorian Integrated Transport Modelling (S-VITM)

Productivity Commissions Staff Working Paper on Deep and Persistent Disadvantage in Australia (2013)

Jeff Borland, Mark Considine, Guyonne Kalb§ and David Ribar, What Are Best-Practice Programs for Jobseekers Facing High Barriers to Employment? Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne School of Social and Political Sciences, Melbourne, June 2016

Social Impact bonds, https://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/funds-programs-and-policies/partnerships- addressing-disadvantage

Melton City Council, Youth Forum 2019 Report

Small Area Labour Markets, March 2019, Department of Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business, available at https://www.employment.gov.au/small-area-labour-markets- publication

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Additional Notes Melton: A City for All People

Council’s commitment to improving the quality of life of people with disabilities, children, young people, older people and people who live, learn, work or play in the City of Melton is coordinated through the Melton: A City for all People plan. This plan is an integrated approach to delivering four individual Council strategies, specifically:

 the Disability Action Plan (recognising disability can be present at any age),  the Municipal Early Years Plan (0-12 years),  The Youth Strategy (12-25 years), and  the Ageing Well Strategy (50+ years) into one, all-encompassing document.

Community engagement was one of the key, underpinning factors in the development of Melton: A City for all People, with Council using feedback gathered during the creation of our community vision, Melton City 2036: The City We Imagine and our Council and Wellbeing Plan 2017-2021, to inform this innovative strategy. Consultation was further supplemented by engagement with staff, various advisory committees including the Early Years Partnership Committee, Youth Advisory Committee, Disability Advisory Committee, and other key partners such as the Melton Youth Advisory Network, and Service Provider Network; as well as aligning with relevant State and Federal public policies and reforms.

The vision for Melton: A City for all People is that people of all ages and abilities are able to grow and thrive within a community that’s supportive, accepting, safe and accessible. It’s a document built on the foundation of five themes:  Being inclusive  Being connected  Being happy and healthy  Being all you can be  Being heard By focussing our activities on these five themes, Council will be better placed to deliver services, programs, facilities and infrastructure that are timely, cost effective and meet the needs of everyone who calls our wonderful City home.

The health and wellbeing of every member of our community is of primary importance to Melton City Council, and we as an organisation will continue to work to improve the quality of life of all residents, irrespective of which life stage they are currently experiencing.

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Melton is a Learning City and committed to Lifelong Learning

The City of Melton was conferred the UNESCO Lifelong City Award in 2015. Melton’s vision for the municipality is to make it a vibrant, proud, growing and healthy community offering lifestyle choices. Linked to this vision is a commitment to building a world- class learning community. To achieve its vision, Council recognises that, as a key stakeholder, it must foster a community culture that embraces and encourages continuity of learning at all ages. Sustainability is a priority consideration for the City.

Lifelong Learning Plan and implementation

Melton has an established Community Learning Board that acts as an Advisory Committee to the Council. It provides recommendations and consults with the community on matters relating to lifelong learning. It provides the governance structure for an overall city approach to lifelong learning, and oversees the development, implementation and evaluation of its community learning plans. This includes forging the necessary community and business partnerships. The current learning plan is in development. It predecessor ‘Melton: A Learning City – Community Learning Plan 2015-2018’ (CLP), is aligned with the Framework of Key Features of Learning Cities and the Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government’s.

‘Learning as a Driver of Change: Learning Community Framework’ was the sixth plan to have been implemented since 1998. The CLP is designed to support, promote and incubate initiatives that develop our community at the individual level (supporting personal development and the gaining of skills and qualifications), and at the community level (for improved social resilience and economic outcomes). The 2019 Plan, which will extend this great work is currently in development.

The Board is committed to fostering a community culture that encourages continuity of learning at all ages and supports the provision of high-quality learning opportunities for all residents of the municipality.

The Board recognizes lifelong learning as a key mechanism through which personal, social, cultural, economic and environmental growth occurs.

The strategic outcome of the Board is to build a learning community based on best practices that features comprehensive engagement, innovation, effectiveness, inclusion and skilled partnerships.

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