More support services will be established, after the City was identified as an area of high disadvantage.

The program - outlined by the State Government – aims to help to employ families experiencing long-term joblessness, as well as people with disabilities.

Port Augusta was identified as having a “real need” for support in these two areas, according to Commissioner for Social Inclusion David Cappo.

Targeted in the program will be 33 families, who have been unemployed for 12 months or longer.

A family support worker will work with the families to help them deal with issues surrounding employment, and to guide them into appropriate training, so they can acquire jobs.

About 150 people in the City between years 9 and 12 with a disability will also be targeted, who are at risk of at risk of not making an effective transition from school to work.

Port Augusta Youth Centre coordinator Kym Chamberlain said it was clear that the City needs a higher level of support services for disadvantaged families.

“Such a program would be great for the City,” she said.

Mrs Chamberlain has seen many families pass through the youth centre, and believes a trend in generations is evident.

“You can clearly notice that, families where parents have never worked, their children usually don’t either.

“That’s where they learn … from the home.”

She hoped that the initiative would be long term.

“Anything that happens for the short term never has an impact, so lets hope it will have a lasting affect.”

She said it would also be good for parents as well as children.

“It will get their spirits up, and give kids a backing from their family to get into the workforce.”

She said that with a lot of the kids at the youth centre, the problem we have is their confidence and self-esteem.

“A lot of kids are capable of getting into work, but that confidence needs to be built, along with the employers confidence in them.”