Australian Chamber Welcomes New Employment Report

14 Dec 2018 |

Australia’s largest and most representative business network, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed the release of a Government report from the Independent Employment Services Expert Advisory Panel, which had been tasked with recommending a system to replace the arrangements due to expire in June 2020.

“The Panel’s report has highlighted the key elements that are critical to making the next employment service arrangements more effective. It places a strong emphasis on meeting the needs of employers as well as job seekers, as well as taking advantage of technology to match employment demand with supply,” Jenny Lambert, the Australian Chamber’s Director of Employment, Education and Training, said today.

“One of the key concerns with the current jobactive system is that only a very small percentage of employers use it to satisfy their recruitment needs.

“Improving employer engagement by ensuring the publicly funded employment system provides a suitable range of candidates for employers to consider is fundamental to the system operating effectively.

“As a member of the panel, we commend the extensive review process, and in particular, the effort that the Government went to in order to understand the user journeys of employers and job seekers. The Panel consulted widely and closely considered options available.

“New technology platforms can particularly help in assisting those who have only been out of the workforce for a short time, but the most important task for employment services funded by government is to assist those who have been unemployed for a long time. These people need enhanced services to assist them, and it was pleasing to see the Panel’s recommendations strike this balance so that resources can be applied to areas of greatest need.

“We were particularly pleased that the Panel recognised that local approaches really work by bringing employer and community stakeholders together to ensure the unemployed in their region are best assisted. The report also supported the importance of the system reaching out to employers where the vacancies are, rather than assuming that employers, who have many choices of where to source staff, will come to the system.

“The Panel also recognised that there are a lot of effective programs outside of jobactive that are assisting the unemployed to find work. The federal employment services system needs to recognise and better integrate these services into the total effort of helping those most in need.

“The Australian Chamber looks forward to continuing to work with the Government and also engaging with the Opposition to ensure in the run-up to the election and beyond, that there is a strong bipartisan approach to helping the unemployed find work.”

Jenny Lambert

Director - Employment Education and Training

P  |  0418 277 919

E  |  [email protected]

Emily Kennelly

Adviser- Public Affairs & Advocacy

P  |  0438 730 772

E  |  [email protected]

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