A group which provides employment assistance to people out of work in central Queensland says it may funnel the unemployed to drought-affected farms.

The Remote Area Planning and Development Board has been expanded to form RAPAD Employment Services Queensland. The service is set to deliver skills and training under a federally-funded scheme for workers in the remote centre of the state.

Regional manager Tony Rayner says the drought-hit farmers often are not looking to take on full employees, but could all use a helping hand. An element of the program will allow some jobseekers to undertake voluntary work.

“People are fully occupied with the drought at the moment and working their way through that,” Rayner said, “we will be working with AgForce and other groups to look at opportunities where we might be able to place some of our jobseekers to assist with some of the drought-feeding programs and jobs like that.”

“Most of regional Australia has a small unemployment issue.”

The group will provide vital help both for graziers and the unemployed, connecting the two for the benefit of the isolated and dangerously dry region.