The Australian Council of Social Service, the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Business Council of Australia on Monday jointly proposed improvements to employment services to deliver better job outcomes for people disadvantaged in the labour market.
The proposal, put forward ahead of the announcement by the federal government of new national contracts with employment services providers, follows the development of an alliance between three organisations to work together to tackle entrenched disadvantage.
The organisations propose employment services be reoriented towards a ‘partnerships approach’, which more effectively links employment services with employer needs, and where funding is redirected to more targeted training and in-job support.
The partnerships approach is proposed to include:
• Establishment of employment brokers to create partnerships between employers and employment services to better match jobseekers with labour demand.
• Establishment of regional employment boards in areas of high unemployment to promote the partnerships approach among industry, unions, employment services and training providers.
• Redirecting training resources from the existing Employment Pathway Fund to focus more on disadvantaged jobseekers, and to fund work experience and training as part of the partnerships approach.
‘Stronger partnerships, supported by employment brokers would enable job service providers to better respond to employer demand, tailor training opportunities to employer need and provide in-work support to jobseekers to ensure lasting employment outcomes,’ said Dr Cassandra Goldie, ACOSS CEO.
‘It is critical that people currently excluded from the labour market are given support to participate, and at the same time, employers need to have a direct line of sight to disadvantaged jobseekers.’
Read the proposal at www.acoss.org.au/images/uploads/Partnerships_to_secure_jobs_FINAL.pdf
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