The Commonwealth Government will help more job seekers secure a job and to assist employers find the employees they need to grow their businesses.
The Government is investing $5 billion to establish jobactive which will improve the quality of services delivered to job seekers and employers.
In 1998, the Howard Government introduced the Job Network and revolutionised the delivery of employment services to job seekers. Unfortunately, the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Government changed the employment services system to reward process over results and encourage training for training’s sake. The system became mired in red tape, letting down job seekers and employers.
The new jobactive system will be focused on results and reward performance not process.
From 1 July 2015, 66 organisations will deliver one or more jobactive services to job seekers and employers across Australia. There will be clearer incentives to ensure employment service providers are focused on better preparing job seekers to meet the needs of local employers and helping people to find and keep a job.
Service providers will no longer receive ‘job placement’ payments. The rules around training have also been tightened to ensure that job seekers are not being sent to training for training’s sake as is currently the case.
There will be less red tape so that providers can spend more time doing what they do best – helping job seekers find and keep a job. The new employment services contract will also be extended from three years to five years. A new regional loading for providers in selected regions will be introduced, recognising that labour market conditions vary across Australia.
The new model encourages young job seekers to take up a job and employers to take on new employees.
The Job Commitment Bonus programme will encourage young, long-term unemployed job seekers aged 18-30 to find and keep a job. The Government’s Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job programme will continue to offer eligible job seekers financial assistance if they move to a regional area to take up a job.
The Restart programme will encourage businesses to employ mature age job seekers.
The new model will also provide outcome payments for seasonal job placements that might last only four weeks, as well as a 12 and 26 week outcome payments for longer-term jobs. Data clearly demonstrates that people who have undertaken a few short-term employment opportunities are substantially more likely to gain permanent positions.
Work for the Dole will be rolled out nationally to help job seekers to learn new skills and remain socially active and engaged while looking for work. Work for the Dole allows job seekers to show that they are keen and willing to work while also giving something back to the community that is supporting them.
All of the Government’s policies are focused on getting people into work because the best form of welfare is a job.
31 March 2015