The unemployed were aged 15 to 24 years and were in the Orana and Far West region.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence provided the figure to the Daily Liberal based on its analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data for the region.

The group, which focuses on alleviating and preventing poverty, recently raised concerns that federal budget changes requiring job seekers aged under 30 years to wait six months before they were eligible for unemployment benefits would hit some areas particularly hard.

The NSW youth unemployment rate was 11.8 per cent, but in the Orana and Far West region it was 14.1 per cent, and 17 per cent in the western suburbs of Sydney, according to the analysis.

Figures from the Dubbo City Council Online Economic Profile Report, incorporating ABS 2011 Census Place of Work Employment Data, show an estimated 16,959 people work in Dubbo.

Of those, 2861 are aged from 15 to 24 years.

The estimated number of people who work at Dubbo represents 38.57 per cent of the almost 44,000 people working in the Orana region.

Brotherhood of St Laurence chief Tony Nicholson recently described the government's new policy as "draconian" but Parkes MP Mark Coulton disagreed.

The Nationals member said he thought the economy could expand to provide more jobs, and that there would be government programs in place.

"If it isn't a job, people will be encouraged to take up a traineeship," he said.

He also anticipated the roll out of a work for the dole program and grants to help people who relocated for employment.

The MP warned jobseekers they may have to go to the job, rather than the other way around.

"The idea that a job will be near where you were born or where you grew up - that's got to change," he said.

Federal indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion visited Dubbo yesterday to announce $1.6 million in funding for Get Real, a program designed to keep teens in education or employment.

"The place we need to focus on is between supply and demand," he said.

"(Get Real) is a direct conduit between those people who are aspirants for a job and those people who wish to employ them."