Post by Banker on May 3, 2012 6:20:31 GMT 7
spacey will love this one ;D
The ultimate insult to genuine job seekers
John*, who was unemployed for almost five years, says despite having to go into his Job Services Australia provider in order qualify for benefits, they never really gave him much help.
“I would go into my JSA provider once a month, have a meeting with my case worker where I would have to prove I was actually looking for jobs. She would never have any jobs for me to apply for; she would never suggest any specific jobs I should apply for or have any suggestions on what jobs I could do. Let alone actually finding jobs for me or setting up interviews for me, which is what I thought they would do,” he said.
The Commonwealth Government’s Job Services Australia (JSA) program replaced the Coalition’s old Job Network and is a moderate improvement on the old system. However, the JSA system is largely failing. Department figures show only 8 per cent of JSA clients get full-time work each year. But it’s a system which has made some JSA provider owners into millionaires off taxpayer money.
Since the inception of the JSA, the number of people unemployed for between two and five years has increased by 60 per cent between 2009 and 2011, according to recent ABS figures.
87 per cent of available jobs require post-school qualifications, but 60 per cent of our long-term unemployed lack Year 12 qualifications or equivalent. While we have over 630,000 people unemployed, the nation is facing a serious skills shortage.
It is hard to see this as anything but systemic failure.
A Government audit into the JSA program released last week shows up to 40 per cent of job placement fees claimed by JSA providers were false, fraudulent or could not be substantiated. The audit estimates $1.1 million dollars in fees will now be recovered. A full-blown investigation into JSA provider fraud is expected.
Last year, the Commonwealth Ombudsman received 481 complaints about JSA providers. The most common issues raised were “individual financial assistance through the jobseeker account fund, relationship breakdown issues with a JSA provider, an inability to find employment after being engaged with a particular provider for a period of time and wanting to change to a new provider”.
At Social Security Rights Victoria (SSRV), callers to our advice service say they often feel short-changed and even bullied by JSA staff, especially after they lodge a complaint. For example, one of our clients was recently financially breached by Centrelink after his provider reported him for misconduct because he simply had a disagreement with his case worker. A breach can be a serious matter for someone living on as little as $35 a day (a pitifully low figure as a range of business leaders, Greens Senator Rachel Siewert and the Australian Council of Social Service have been recently pointing out).
While some of our clients have told us they find their JSA case workers very helpful, the overwhelming majority are disillusioned and frustrated with their provider; citing complicated administrative processes, a lack of individualised attention, no access to their own funding, inappropriate job offers and futile training.
Another SSRV client complained of “useless and patronising workshops”. JSA providers have a habit of directing clients to courses they run themselves (they get extra funding for this). Another reported being told by their JSA provider “not to wear green” to job interviews because “it’s not a powerful colour like red”.
One university graduate in receipt of Newstart was sent to “work for the dole” assignments where his main job was to sweep floors of op-shops. One was even berated about whether she wanted to “be on the dole” for the rest of her life.
Despite improved investment by the Commonwealth, employment services are still significantly under-funded in Australia when compared to other OECD countries. There are systemic problems related to this. It’s not just a case of “bad JSA providers”; many of these providers are under serious pressure to remain commercially viable and case workers can be over-burdened with high numbers of clients making it almost impossible to provide the personalised service desperately needed.
Government-JSA provider contracts are extremely complex and unnecessarily bureaucratic. Providers instead need to be freed up to work with job seekers in local communities and come up with innovative solutions.
Recent events have shown us unemployed are not only missing out on access to their own funding allocation. It has been actively rorted by JSA providers. Jobseekers need more control of their own funding and should be afforded clear avenues of appeal when reasonable requests for help are rejected.
www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-ultimate-insult-to-genuine-job-seekers/
The ultimate insult to genuine job seekers
John*, who was unemployed for almost five years, says despite having to go into his Job Services Australia provider in order qualify for benefits, they never really gave him much help.
“I would go into my JSA provider once a month, have a meeting with my case worker where I would have to prove I was actually looking for jobs. She would never have any jobs for me to apply for; she would never suggest any specific jobs I should apply for or have any suggestions on what jobs I could do. Let alone actually finding jobs for me or setting up interviews for me, which is what I thought they would do,” he said.
The Commonwealth Government’s Job Services Australia (JSA) program replaced the Coalition’s old Job Network and is a moderate improvement on the old system. However, the JSA system is largely failing. Department figures show only 8 per cent of JSA clients get full-time work each year. But it’s a system which has made some JSA provider owners into millionaires off taxpayer money.
Since the inception of the JSA, the number of people unemployed for between two and five years has increased by 60 per cent between 2009 and 2011, according to recent ABS figures.
87 per cent of available jobs require post-school qualifications, but 60 per cent of our long-term unemployed lack Year 12 qualifications or equivalent. While we have over 630,000 people unemployed, the nation is facing a serious skills shortage.
It is hard to see this as anything but systemic failure.
A Government audit into the JSA program released last week shows up to 40 per cent of job placement fees claimed by JSA providers were false, fraudulent or could not be substantiated. The audit estimates $1.1 million dollars in fees will now be recovered. A full-blown investigation into JSA provider fraud is expected.
Last year, the Commonwealth Ombudsman received 481 complaints about JSA providers. The most common issues raised were “individual financial assistance through the jobseeker account fund, relationship breakdown issues with a JSA provider, an inability to find employment after being engaged with a particular provider for a period of time and wanting to change to a new provider”.
At Social Security Rights Victoria (SSRV), callers to our advice service say they often feel short-changed and even bullied by JSA staff, especially after they lodge a complaint. For example, one of our clients was recently financially breached by Centrelink after his provider reported him for misconduct because he simply had a disagreement with his case worker. A breach can be a serious matter for someone living on as little as $35 a day (a pitifully low figure as a range of business leaders, Greens Senator Rachel Siewert and the Australian Council of Social Service have been recently pointing out).
While some of our clients have told us they find their JSA case workers very helpful, the overwhelming majority are disillusioned and frustrated with their provider; citing complicated administrative processes, a lack of individualised attention, no access to their own funding, inappropriate job offers and futile training.
Another SSRV client complained of “useless and patronising workshops”. JSA providers have a habit of directing clients to courses they run themselves (they get extra funding for this). Another reported being told by their JSA provider “not to wear green” to job interviews because “it’s not a powerful colour like red”.
One university graduate in receipt of Newstart was sent to “work for the dole” assignments where his main job was to sweep floors of op-shops. One was even berated about whether she wanted to “be on the dole” for the rest of her life.
Despite improved investment by the Commonwealth, employment services are still significantly under-funded in Australia when compared to other OECD countries. There are systemic problems related to this. It’s not just a case of “bad JSA providers”; many of these providers are under serious pressure to remain commercially viable and case workers can be over-burdened with high numbers of clients making it almost impossible to provide the personalised service desperately needed.
Government-JSA provider contracts are extremely complex and unnecessarily bureaucratic. Providers instead need to be freed up to work with job seekers in local communities and come up with innovative solutions.
Recent events have shown us unemployed are not only missing out on access to their own funding allocation. It has been actively rorted by JSA providers. Jobseekers need more control of their own funding and should be afforded clear avenues of appeal when reasonable requests for help are rejected.
www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-ultimate-insult-to-genuine-job-seekers/
