Hunting for work

Kevin is a young man in a hurry to find a full-time job and secure his future. Technically, the 21-year-old is not counted in the youth unemployment statistics – he has a part-time retail job and works about 10 hours a week. This supplements the income support he receives from Centrelink.

But his story is part of the hidden narrative of more than 310,000 Australians aged 15 to 24 who are underemployed - that is they have some work but want more hours. A Brotherhood of St Laurence analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data has found when you add those who are without any work, more than 580,000 young Australians are now either underemployed or unemployed.

'I don't need any more incentives to find work - I am already doing all I can,' Kevin says. 'Every day I wake up and apply for jobs. I walk up and down handing out resumes. I'm not fussy - I'd work anywhere as long as I can find something that gives me the regular hours to start saving and building a life.'

Kevin lives in a share house in a regional Victorian town. He is articulate and engaging, had casual jobs throughout school, and finished his year 12 assuming that he would be able to find constant work - but of the hundreds of jobs he's applied for in the past 18 months, he's had only six interviews.

'I felt like they went well, but I've never heard back from any of them,' he says. 'It starts to drive you crazy after a while. I can't stand sitting around at home, doing nothing - I just want to get out there and work.'

Kevin's motivation to work is clear: he recently found some casual work at a bottle shop in a nearby town, and rides a pushbike 15 km home along the highway to get home at night. 'When you live in the country you don't have a lot of choice - my shift finishes after the last train leaves, so it's the only way to get home.'

Without financial support from his parents, the six-month suspension of Centrelink benefits for jobless under 30s proposed in the federal Budget would leave him vulnerable. 'I honestly don't know what I'd do,' he says. 'I like the people I live with, but they're all in the same position so I don't have anyone here to turn to. I guess I'd have to turn to my Nan back in WA, but I really wouldn't want to - I'm 21, and I really want to make my own way.'

The Brotherhood of St Laurence's My Chance Our Future campaign is highlighting the issue of youth unemployment.

You can read our report: Barely Working - Young and Unemployed in Australia , or our latest Youth Unemployment Monitor .