The GCYEB believes in making positive investments in young people, rather than supporting deficits. Our work is underpinned by Advantaged Thinking which challenges us to shape a world in which the skills and talents of young people are celebrated. We focus on identifying, developing and investing in the skills, capabilities and assets of young people so that they can establish sustainable lives so that they supported into meaningful jobs now and into the future.
The GCYEB has broader reach and influence working closely with the National Youth Employment Body. The NYEB is enabled by the Brotherhood of St Laurence and brings together similar groups across Australia to share and evidence practice, influence policy, and ultimately drive systems change.
The youth unemployment rate in Australia is persistently double that of the general population. As at January 2024, youth unemployment sits at 9.3% with Queensland’s underemployment at 6.7%. The National Youth Employment Body focuses on closing this gap by:
We champion and value young people’s contributions and capabilities by bringing youth voice and participation into the design and delivery of our Action Plan. Enable young people to meaningfully contribute to and engage with strategies and projects to improve youth employment.
We facilitate employer collaboration and contribution to the design and implementation of local efforts to strengthen work entry pathways and promote the benefits of investing in young people.
Collectively, the GCYEB has co-designed a Youth Employment Offer to strengthen and improve the recruitment and retention of young people.
We work to align local skills and training offers to ensure they are fit-for-purpose, accessible, and engaging for young people and connected to local job opportunities.
We harness the community effort by combining member expertise and resources to achieve our goals. We advocate for all young peoples access to opportunities.
The Gold Coast Youth Employment Body (GCYEB) was approached by local Baskin Robbins franchise owner to support recruitment of 15 entry-level positions. Recognising the challenges in attracting young talent, Baskin Robbins sought guidance in developing engaging recruitment, interviewing, and onboarding resources that would meet both youth interests and business needs. The Youth Employer Toolkit, co-designed with young people and GCYEB members which includes employers themselves, offered valuable tools and resources that contributed to a successful recruitment drive. This included crafting youth-friendly interview templates, designing an effective onboarding process, and implementing resources to enhance communication with young recruits, while also fostering strong employee relationships and improving retention. All 15 positions were filled and retained for a minimum of 3 months.
Testimonial – Brett “The GCYEB was extremely helpful, I was to able get what I needed from the Youth Employer Toolkit and adapt the resources to what my business needed. It gave me a lot of confidence and tools to use especially for young people. The on-boarding resources gave the young recruits a bit more insight of the workplace expectations as well because it was all written down for them. The forms were made for Baskin and Robbins, it looked good for my business and looked good and attractive for the young person. I would recommend this other small business, recruitment is the hardest thing to do but it is the most important thing to do.
Understanding the critical need to expand local talent pipelines and address skill shortages within the care industry, Feros Care’s Talent Strategy Lead, Rachael Bowman developed a strategy to build and implement the Talent Pathways Program.
The program is designed to attract, retain, and develop their workforce, with a focus on creating opportunities for young talent via work experience, placements, and school-based traineeships.
These pathways create entry level opportunities and enhance succession planning, and a skills uplift across the organisation. As a dedicated member of the GCYEB and a champion for youth employment, Rachael exemplifies employer collaboration and actively contributes to designing and implementing local initiatives that strengthen work entry pathways and highlight the advantages of investing in young people.
