Young people are nearly three times more likely to be unemployed than other Australians, with especially poor work prospects in regional areas.
The Brotherhood of St Laurence on Monday said that despite almost three decades of economic growth, the youth unemployment rate is stagnating at the levels seen in the early 2000s.
The anti-poverty group said about one-in-nine people aged 15-to-24 are unable to find work - almost triple the rate for those aged 25 and over.
More than one-in-four young people in outback Queensland are unemployed while Coffs Harbour was the worst area for youth unemployment in NSW - with more than 20 per cent of young people there who want work unable to find it.
NSW's New England and Riverina regions, Bendigo and Shepparton in Victoria and Perth's northwest also had higher-than-average youth unemployment.
The figures challenge the perception of youth as an entitled generation and show the need for a more sophisticated public debate about their challenges, Brotherhood executive director Conny Lenneberg said.
"We know from our research and the experience of our services that many young people are doing it tough," she said.
"Yet young people are too often depicted in simplistic terms of consumers of overpriced smashed-avocado toast with a fascination for selfies, and that's plain wrong."
The national unemployment rate for all Australians aged 15 and over is 5.1 per cent.
