WELCOME TO MISSION ENGAGE
Our Mission:
To provide disengaged and disadvantaged 18 to 22-year old youth with the necessary skills, training and confidence to become powerful assets in business and develop the mental capacity to personally go the distance.
Our Purpose:
Mission Engage works in partnership with industry leaders to provide a deep dive learning experience of what it looks like to be employed. This hands-on practical business experience assists with the challenges young people face when looking for employment. We provide support to people who are disengaged, disadvantaged and who are at risk of long-term unemployment.
Snapshot:
Our program is designed to cultivate a greater sense of self-esteem and target key areas of mental and physical development.
Those we work with:
The diversity of those who support our program is the cornerstone to it’s success.
They include:
Myer, Federation Sq, Doxa Club, Crown Melbourne, Southern Cross Station, Monjon Security, Essential Minutes, Sodexo, Melbourne Victory Football Club, Ikon Cleaning Services, Karma Plumbing, MSS Security, Melbourne United Basketball Club, Lynx Writing, The Lost Dogs Home, Metropol Crown and Crown Towers – all offering many entry level positions across the business.
We saw a breakdown in available positions not being filled despite a large number of people unemployed. This led to our connective objective program (Mission Engage) which we see as having equal value in the cycle of employment.
We support four types of streams concurrently:
- Those experiencing disadvantage, disengagement and long-term unemployment
- Community Service centres assisting with youth unemployment
- Schools offering VCAL
- Corporate Clients
The Mission Engage youth program is a national initiative free for young Australians, provided with the financial assistance from host businesses, philanthropic activities and support of the Father James Grant Foundation.
Finding those in need:
We work across the sector which includes community service centres supporting disengaged and disadvantaged youth, refugee and asylum seekers supported by Deakin Universities Centre for Refugee Employment, Advocacy, Training and Education (CREATE) and Educations Institutes who offer The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). They include but are not limited to Youth Projects, Upskill, Brave, Simonds Catholic College and Deakin University.
WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO
More than 264,000 young people aged 15 to 24 are currently unemployed across the country. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data show the unemployment rate of 15–24-year old’s in the labour force is much higher than the unemployment rate for all ages. The youth unemployment rate in January 2018 of 12.2 per cent was more than twice the overall rate of 5.5 per cent, and three times the rate of those aged 25 and over.
Successfully entering the workforce requires many skill-sets that most of those who are long-time unemployed or those that have never worked struggle with. Constant rejection or lack of a positive family unit plays a large part in unemployment. Those where no parental figure has ever worked have an even harder time grasping the requirements it takes to commit to an employment structure.
In August 2018 the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) who are national advocates for action to reduce poverty and inequality and the peak body for the community services sector in Australia, suggests that employment services aren’t working and are calling for a major reform.
They suggest that the current Jobactive system provokes anxiety, with a constant fear of being cut off from their social security support. It goes on to suggest that people using Jobactive and previous employment service programs are not getting the help they really need, such as career guidance, a referral to a job, meaningful training, or properly-paid work experience in a regular job.
WHO ARE DISENGAGED YOUTH?
Many young Australians leave secondary education without any academic aspirations and no clear vision or understanding of a career path. These youth can be law abiding, living harmoniously with their family, and engaged in other social and community activities, but lacking the motivation or the skills required to gain meaningful employment. Without a clear direction, youth can become disengaged, often leading to low-self esteem, isolation, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, and long-term unemployment.
What is initially a single issue – such as unemployment after completing school – becomes multi-faceted, and this can have negative consequences for the young person, their family and friends, and the wider community.
Most commonly, the program works with 16-22 year old Australians without a clear vision for their future and whose school, sporting and social experiences have failed to inspire confidence or a strong sense of self.
