The rate of jobless Aussies aged 15 to 24 reached a disaster level according to latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics as released by the organisation of the Brotherhood of St Laurence.

According to the figures, 20 per cent of young Aussies across the country, including Cairns in far north of Queensland, west and north-west Tasmania and northern Adelaide, suffer unemployment.

"What it means for all these young people is that they're at risk of never being able to get a foothold in the world of work. And in our modern economy that means that they're really being sentenced to a lifetime of poverty," Executive Director for Brotherhood of St Laurence Tony Nicholson told NewsRadio.

"Overwhelmingly we know that these young people need advice about their career paths, they need opportunities to gain basic skills, they need mentoring, but over and above all that, what they need is an opportunity to gain work experience in a real work place with a real employer. In a modern economy, employers are being driven to be internationally competitive and as a consequence they are placing a premium on education and qualification and particularly work experience," Mr Nicholson explained.

"We're getting a picture that the task of making the transition from school to work is much more difficult in this modern economy than it has been."

The Brotherhood of St Laurence said that Tasmania has the most alarming rate of youth being unemployed - 21 per cent in west and north-west Tasmania, Burnie and Devonport.

Twenty per cent of youths in South-east Tasmania were unemployed while there were 18 per cent of jobless youths from Launceston and north-east Tasmania.

Queensland had 15 per cent unemployment rate.

Cairns recorded the worst percentage of unemployment at 20.5 per cent.

In South Australia, Adelaide area including Elizabeth and Gawler, obtained the worst percentage at 19.7 per cent.

The outback in Northern Territory had 18.5 per cent of its youth unemployed.

Across Victoria, Hume region, including Goulburn Valley, Wodonga and Wangaratta, recorded the worst percentage at 17.5.

Western Australia's Mandurah area, including Dawesville and Falcon, had 17.3 per cent of its youth unemployed, while in the Fremantle area it is around 12 per cent.

WA recorded as high as 13 per cent while in New South Wales, Parramatta had the most unemployed youth at 16.8 per cent.