The former Victorian premier said the political will to address those high unemployment figures may play a part in combating mental health issues among young people. 

With suicide rates also climbing, Mr Kennett said he wanted to see more action and attention from political leaders to address the issue.  

“I would like to see it represented, not so much in terms of dealing with mental health and depression, which I think we take as a given, but actually creating the environment which will lower the opportunity for those illnesses to grab such a hold on society,” he said. 

“That really means policy that will lead to occupation, I mean when you have a look at those young people that are unemployed, it really is a national disgrace. We talk about jobs and growth but we talk about jobs in the service industry and we talk about them in the high tech areas but that is not going to employ and give opportunities to a lot of young people who do not have the education and who are living outside of metropolitan areas.”

He was the opening speaker at Commerce Ballarat’s Business Day Out on Wednesday focusing on mentally healthy workplaces. Having a workplace that is not mentally healthy, leads to a much poorer level of productivity Mr Kennett said. 

“It is terribly damaging, it is terribly damaging socially because often people come to work with issues, sometimes they are developed at work,” he said.  

“Not having a mentally healthy environment at work greatly reduces productivity levels as well. If you want to build up your capacity in terms of outputs, then if you have a mentally healthy workplace you will probably increase it by 4 per cent.”

Mr Kennett urged those in leadership positions to have conversations with employees about their well being. 

“Those who are in a position of leadership should have a conversation with their employees,” he said. “Conversations will often lead to very simple solutions that will make a great deal of difference.”