Treasurer Kim Wells recently expressed his disappointment at the youth unemployment rate: "Industries such as hospitality, tourism and retail which have traditionally provided employment for young people are suffering as a result of the high Australian dollar," he said.
He said the government was taking practical steps to help young people find work, such as pushing Fair Work Australia to allow secondary students to work minimum 90-minute shifts.
Wells said the Gillard government's carbon tax and proposed national occupational health and safety laws were damaging business confidence and impacting on employment opportunities for young people.
Victoria now holds the dubious title of having Australia's highest youth jobless rate.
Jobs figures for March showed 22.3 per cent of people aged 15 to 19 in the state are unemployed, well above the national rate of 18 per cent.
It was almost one percentage point improvement on February's figures but higher than in Queensland (18.8 per cent), Tasmania (16.8) and NSW (16.1), and more than five per cent higher than when the coalition won office in November 2010.
Some 14,000 Victorians aged 15 to 19 were unemployed and not attending full-time education in March, while 29,300 jobless youths were studying full-time.
Mission Australia state director Emma Cassar said there had been an increased demand for services from the youth unemployed during the past two years.
Young people, many of whom were employed in the retail sector, were the first to feel the pain of a weak economy, she said.
"When we're in an economic downturn, the first jobs to go are by and large part-time, casual (and) lower-skilled retail type jobs where business owners can save some money," Cassar said.
Along with appropriate educational and technical skills, it was important young people could meet basic workplace requirements such as arriving on time, wearing appropriate clothing and knowing how to work harmoniously with colleagues, she said.
"They are really important things that we are seeing in our sector that young people aren't just picking up."
Youth Affairs Council of Victoria chief executive Georgie Ferrari said federal, state and local governments needed to invest more in youth traineeships.
It was concerning the commonwealth government's employment program Job Services Australia did not specifically address the issue of youth joblessness, Ferrari said.