UnionsACT will launch its Young Workers Centre tomorrow night, Wednesday 31 July, officially opening its virtual doors to provide free, confidential information and support to young workers aged under 25 years.
UnionsACT will use the launch on Wednesday to call for new laws to make it simpler and faster for workers to recover stolen wages.
Young workers in Canberra are facing a wage-theft crisis. UnionsACT research has found that the prevalence of wage-theft has increased dramatically in recent times, with more than half of young workers reporting their wages were stolen in the last 12 months (up from 44% last year).
The Young Worker Centre and its advice service, is filling a much-needed gap in providing free information to young workers from their very first job, including through colleges, TAFE and universities. It will also run programs to equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to enforce their own workplace rights. It follows the highly successful Victorian and South Australian Young Workers Centres.
The Young Worker Advice Service is funded by the ACT Government, and this funding allows the Young Worker Centre to provide its information services for free to all young workers in the ACT.