Through The RopesPrevention. Intervention.

Who we help / People looking for work

Looking for work

Routine, confidence, and a foot in the door.

Being out of work is hard on money, health and confidence, and the longer it lasts the harder it gets. Through The Ropes builds the things employers notice: turning up on time, sticking at it, working with others. And our mentors and partners can open doors.

By the numbers

Unemployment in Australia right now.

The picture

Who is finding it hardest.

Young people find it hardest Young people aged 15 to 24: 11.1%; All Australians: 4.7%. Young people aged 15 to 24 11.1% All Australians 4.7%
Unemployment rate, September 2026, seasonally adjusted. Source: ABS, Labour Force, Australia, September 2026
Three in four JobSeeker households live in poverty 15 of 20 circles highlighted: below the poverty line. The rest: above the poverty line. below the poverty line above the poverty line
76% of people in households relying mainly on JobSeeker lived below the poverty line in 2022-23. Each circle is 5%. Source: ACOSS and UNSW Sydney, Poverty in Australia 2026: Who is affected (2022-23 data), media release

Behind the numbers

It's not about effort.

Unemployment is rarely about effort. It's about the jobs nearby, transport, caring duties, health, a criminal record or a gap in the CV. And the longer it lasts, the harder it gets: confidence fades, routines slip and networks shrink.

Young people are hit hardest, with unemployment more than twice the national rate. For people relying on JobSeeker, money is tight enough that three in four live below the poverty line.

What employers say they want (reliability, effort, teamwork, being coachable) is exactly what a training cohort builds and shows.

How Through The Ropes can help

Work-ready, from the inside out.

Habits employers notice

Three sessions a week at set times. Reliability, effort and teamwork you can talk about in an interview.

Confidence back

Fitness and achievement change how you walk into a room. The showcase is proof you can see something through.

Mentors with networks

Mentors from local business and trades who can help with a CV, a reference, or a phone call.

Alongside your provider

We'll work with employment services, so the programme counts towards your goals instead of competing with them.

Potential for impact

What the evidence says.

Honest about what we know. Sport alone does not create jobs. Programmes that combine sport with mentoring, skills and real links to employers show more promise, though the research is still thin. We'll track who moves into work, study or training at three and six months, and publish it.

What we will measure with every cohort, and publish:

  • Who starts, who finishes, and why people leave early
  • Wellbeing and mood at week 1, week 10 and three months later, using a standard validated scale
  • Fitness and attendance: sessions completed out of thirty
  • Next steps at three and six months: work, study, training, sport, housing
  • Moves into paid work, study or training at three and six months

Employment provider or employer?

Refer job seekers to a cohort, or offer work experience to graduates.

Refer someoneTalk partnership

Sources

  1. ABS, Labour Force, Australia, September 2026
  2. AIHW, Income support payments for the working age population (as at 28 March 2025)
  3. ACOSS and UNSW Sydney, Poverty in Australia 2026: Who is affected (2022-23 data), media release
  4. Commers, Theeboom and Coalter (2022), Sport-for-employability programmes, Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
  5. Raposa et al. (2019), The Effects of Youth Mentoring Programs: A Meta-analysis, Journal of Youth and Adolescence
  6. Noetel et al. (2024), Effect of exercise for depression: systematic review and network meta-analysis, BMJ

Figures are the latest published at the time of writing (October 2026). Back to Who we help.