Australian Atheists Forum

Antipoverty Centre
@antipovertycent

Today we publish our #PunishmentForProfit report, with support from @GetUp
.

93% of people say "mutual" obligations harm their mental or physical health. We expected a strong response to these questions, but these figures surprised even us.
https://punishmentforprofit.org/

Some highlights.

85% said a job agency had made a mistake or done something that caused a problem with their payment.

97% said ‘mutual’ obligations are not useful. #PunishmentForProfit

In total, 591 people contributed to the 2 surveys this report is based on.

56% reported having a disability & 18% identified as trans.

These cohorts are over-represented, which reflects the significant employment barriers & discrimination experienced by people in these groups.

The employment services system costs $4 billion a year.

In the first 7 months after Workforce Australia launched, job agencies reported fewer than 1700 "6 month outcomes" of people being in education or employment.

“The public is out of pocket $4 billion a year while (un)employment providers make millions in profits rorting the system. It’s an open secret that it fails us. It’s time for Labor to back up its words with action." – Jay Coonan, report co-author from the Antipoverty Centre.

The Community and Public Sector Union’s push to revive the 1980s-era Commonwealth Employment Service and return job matching for the unemployed back to the public service has scored a major win at the ALP National Conference after delegates voted-up a key amendment.

Labor’s official platform, which forms the basis of its negotiated policies in conjunction with unions, will be now amended to reflect the position. It’s the first official step towards dismantling the wholesale outsourcing of job placement services to the private and not-for-profit sectors.

The reality of the present job-assistance regime is it’s a bit of a profitless wasteland for commercial service providers who are far more interested in clipping the ticket on high-commission placements thanks to an enduring skills shortage that has produced a demand-driven wages spike in trades and key technical skills.

The only real players left in the market now that Australia is still nudging full employment are not-for-profits and social enterprises prepared to do the hard yards for the benefit of their clients.

Addressing ALP Conference delegates, CPSU national secretary Melissa Donnelly pushed the point that a profit motive for agents was not working to get people into jobs and should be abandoned as a policy.

“If you’re an employer, chances are you don’t use this system because only a tiny percentage of Australian employers do,” Donnelly told the party faithful.

“If you’re long-term unemployed and need help and support, you won’t find that here. You’ll be churned through a series of box-ticking exercises that are demeaning and counterproductive to your needs and goals.”

Donnelly said bringing back the CES was a solution with “wide and deep support across the party – from state and territory conferences, the Labor women’s conference, affiliated unions and many branches and conference delegates”.

That won’t necessarily get it over the line in cabinet, given at the moment many providers are compensated on their outcomes rather than their activity. When there is money for activity, it tends to favour more miserable and punitive measures.

Jez Heywood
@jezheywood
·
3h
When the LNP are in power, they just straight up ignore us.

When @AustralianLabor are in power they set up enquiries, put on their serious faces, nod earnestly and make concerned noises, and then ignore us. Which is a thousand times worse

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Australian House of Representatives
@AboutTheHouse
The Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services expects to table its final report on 30 November. Chair @JulianHillMP
said that the Committee will recommend wholesale reforms for Australia's employment services system.

More: http://aph.gov.au/WAES

Workforce Australia inquiry recap: Outcomes and what comes next

The Workforce Australia recommendations are framed as transformational. What will they actually mean for us and how do we prevent more harm?

By Antipoverty Centre


Date and time
Wed, 13 Dec 2023 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM AEST

Location
Online


About this event
1 hour 15 minutes

The Antipoverty Centre and Australian Unemployed Workers' Union are hosting this online event to provide an update for people in (un)employment services, our allies and other advocates following the publication of the Workforce Australia inquiry report on 30 November.

The employment services inquiry was announced in August 2022 following a campaign by the Antipoverty Centre and AUWU calling for payment suspensions to be paused in the wake of the chaotic Workforce Australia rollout in July 2022. More than 2 million payment suspension notices were issued over its duration.

This inquiry was always a needless delay tactic and an excuse to continue punishment of welfare recipients for the benefit of poverty profiteers. It confirmed what we already know: "mutual" obligations and unpaid forced labour programs like Work for the Dole are causing severe harm. These programs do not assist people who want a job.

We have read the report so you don't have to. Come along to get a breakdown of what the report actually says (behind the spin). Jay Coonan will give a quick rundown of his take on the report recommendations, we will hear from a few folks in Workforce Australia about their perspective and Simone Casey from Economic Justice Australia will talk about implications of automated payment suspensions. There'll also be a brief discussion about the campaign to prevent more harm and the push for employment services that are actually helpful.

Our fight to abolish "mutual" obligations and Work for the Dole, and build a high quality, voluntary, public sector employment service is not over. This event is the first step in the new phase of this campaign. #AbolishMutualObligations #AWFTD

The event is free for all. Solidarity contributions will provide us with funds to pay the unemployed workers on the panel. If you are comfortably able to contribute, click the "register" button and select the donation option at the bottom of the list of ticket types. You can select donation only, or register to participate and add a donation as well. Any funds over and above event costs will be split between the Antipoverty Centre and the AUWU.