Mission Australia
Our Vision is to see a fairer Australia by enabling people in need to find pathways to a better life
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Flexible Job Network will help disadvantaged job seekers |
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| Friday, 16 May 2008 13:37 | ||||
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FLEXIBLE JOB NETWORK WILL HELP DISADVANTAGED JOB SEEKERS Mission Australia welcomes the Rudd Government’s commitment to helping highly disadvantaged job seekers who have not benefited from the economic boom. Mission Australia’s CEO, Toby Hall said that the organisation was pleased the Government had taken on so many of its recommendations for changes to employment and training services and has put it’s money where its mouth is by investing $3.7 billion over three years into skilling the country and helping the long term unemployed. “The proposed changes to the Job Network will make it more flexible, allowing providers like Mission Australia to tailor our services for each job seeker rather than a ‘one-size-fits all’ approach,” Mr Hall said. “With record low unemployment rates, those who are still without work are the most highly disadvantaged jobseekers; mature aged people, people with disabilities, young people who haven’t made a successful transition from school to work, study or training and single parents.“ We’re encouraged by the stronger focus on training and better incentives to providers for helping the long time unemployed to find sustainable jobs. Until now, Job Network has always been about getting people into work as quickly as possible and the rewards were based on ‘speed of placement’. This might work for people who already have the skills to fill job vacancies but for people with significant barriers to employment including limited skills, disabilities or mental health issues, this approach just doesn’t work. “The Rudd Government’s decision to not place a cap on programs will allow service providers to meet demand as it increases. To highlight how important this change is, there are currently 27,000 people on the Personal Support Program waiting list – providers will now be able to meet that demand. We’ll also now have better access to early intervention programs to help the most disadvantaged job seekers. “While we know that there is a review going on, we’re disappointed that the Government has not announced any changes to the Disability Employment Network and Vocation and Rehabilitation Services. We believe it is vital for the future success of Job Network and for the benefit of job seekers with disabilities that these programs are changed. “There are currently about 700,000 people on the Disability Support Pension (DSP) and of that, we estimate 10-20 per cent are able to participate in the workforce but as it stands, there is no incentive for them to do so. “The main issue is the payment difference between DSP and Newstart, relating to health, transport and other supports. If you’re on DSP, and it provides more benefits than Newstart, there’s no incentive to get a job. And if you get that job, but you lose it, you don’t go back to DSP. Again, there’s no incentive. “Mission Australia is pleased by changes to the Work for the Dole program. As the country’s largest provider of Work for the Dole, we have always strongly advocated for a program that provides real work and real training to skill job seekers for the current employment market. “We have wanted to see the program move to a model similar to Mission Australia’s social enterprise program, Urban Renewal Employment Enterprise Program (UREEP). “UREEP helps job seekers in the North Melbourne District to develop vocational skills to help them gain and maintain sustainable jobs in local industries affected by the skills shortage including building and construction. The Program competitively tenders for government and business contracts. “By joining together Job Network, Complementary and Training programs, the previous silos will be broken down, which can only help job seekers. “Changes to the charter of contract management will decrease the level of bureaucracy, red tape and administration costs that service providers have been shouldering. With these savings, we’ll be able to offer better services to job seekers. “Mission Australia is keen to get more details on the Government’s proposed payment model,” Mr Hall said. Media contact: Anh Dang, (02) 9219 2080 or 0423 028 654 
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