There are 35,600 unemployed people living in Melbourne’s west – including Wyndham, Brimbank, Hobsons Bay, Melton and Maribyrnong – according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
This figure, which amounted to 8.7 per cent of the west’s total population, was recorded in June.
A Jobs Victoria employment coach at Wyndham Community and Education Centre, Craig Spicer, said that many people seeking for work faced “multiple barriers to employment”.
“Many do not know how to access online vacancies, as they have limited or no experience with computers,” he said. “Language can also be a barrier.”
Mr Spicer said that while he would personally like to see more jobs available in Wyndham, he was pleased to see that many businesses made an effort to employ local workers.
An initiative based at the Wyndham Community and Education Centre, the work@west project, has placed 73 people into jobs since November last year.
The work@west project is run by the centre, the Westgate Community Initiatives Group and Djerriwarrh Community and Education Services.
Mr Spicer said that under the program, Fresh Select Farms and Fragapane Farms in Werribee South, along with Vertech Hume in Werribee, had taken on workers.
In April, a new $440 million logistics hub, the Drystone Industrial Estate, officially opened on Foundation Road in Truganina. The 95-hectare hub – a joint venture between the Charter Hall Group and Commercial and Industrial Property – is set to provide up to 800 new jobs.
The centre, which is home to a Woolworths meat processing facility, warehouses for Target and The Reject Shop, Laverton Cold Storage, Rand Transport and Couriers Please, already employees about 1200 people.
Wyndham mayor Henry Barlow said he would like to see more businesses set up in Wyndham and provide employment opportunities for residents.
