Overview
Mission Australia believes it is time to design and implement an effective employment services system that does no harm, meets people where they are and actively works to prevent and address long-term unemployment and entrenched disadvantage. Such a system would be founded on four approaches: formal relational contracting, funding the full cost of service delivery, longer grant agreement terms and place-based ways of working. These approaches would work synergistically to: balance national consistency with responsiveness to local circumstances; align service expectations with funding arrangements; prioritise key practices such as joint problem-solving, partnerships, local engagement, participant-centred services and relational practice; and promote long-term, sustainable outcomes.
The future employment services system should rely on coherent and mutually agreed upon evidence of progress, success and learning measures to inform responsive service delivery and continuous improvement strategies. Policy-level changes are also needed, the most important of which involves making employment services programs voluntary, except for mandated attendance at the first appointment. Positive obligations on employment services providers should require them to assist people to secure appropriate and quality employment through a tailored package of services and supports designed to meet their needs and achieve their personal goals. Government agencies and Federal, State/Territory and local governments must also work together to address structural problems that contribute to the persistence of long-term un- and under-employment, including the current unacceptably low income support payments and income eligibility limits for social housing that disincentivise work or force people to make impossible choices between housing and job opportunities. At the provider level, incentives should be rebalanced towards sustainability by substantially increasing funding for inputs and activities relative to outcome payments and by having providers demonstrate their contribution to participant- and community-level outcomes.
Workforce capability and service-level efficiency improvements will facilitate the delivery of high-quality services and ensure staff have time to spend with participants. This is particularly important for the anticipated shift to relational, person-centred models of care that underpin the proposed new service streams and for addressing longer-term barriers to unemployment. Assessment, triage and goal-setting processes should will should capture both specific employment outcomes and a participant's desired broader pathway to wellbeing. Continued engagement should be regular and responsive, so participants receive ongoing support aligned with their preferences and circumstances.
By placing participants at the heart of the employment services system, Mission Australia believes that employment services can successfully meet the needs of people with a range of capabilities, at different life stages and at different points in their work or study journeys. Sustained investment in partnerships, place-based ways of working and meaningful long-term outcomes will help people find the right job, employers find the right staff, communities find the right solutions and the government deliver an effective and efficient program.