Title: An Assessment of the Barriers to the Labour Market in the Far North District

Client: Far North District Council and the Department of Labour

Author(s): Fiona Stokes, Adrian Slack, and David Norman

On behalf of the Far North District Council and the Department of Labour, BERL undertook an assessment of the barriers to the effective integration of the Far North labour market.

Between 2001 and 2006, the population of the Far North District has grown and the labour market has improved. Several indicators illustrate this improvement such as median household income, employment growth, an increase in the labour force participation rate, and a decrease in unemployment.

While there have been many improvements, we believe these improvements have been uneven throughout the District and three barriers continue to exist that prevent the effective integration of the labour market. These barriers are physical, capability and knowledge, and communication. Physical barriers prevent people from going to work, capability and knowledge barriers are when people do not have the skills and/or knowledge for the work that is available, and communication barriers are when people are unaware of the needs of the labour market.

BER#4629