Response to the DEEWR's Review of Job Search Australia and Disability Employment Services

Response to the DEEWR’s Review of Job Search
       Australia and Disability Employment Services
                                  January 2011

Regional Development Australia brings together people and information to
promote collaborative decision making for the sustainable and just economic
development of Sydney, with a focus on employment growth.

Regional Development Australia Sydney (RDA Sydney) welcomes this opportunity to comment on the
Review of Job Services Australia (JSA) and Disability Employment Services (DES), as proposed by DEEWR.

RDA Sydney is a partnership between the Australian, State and Local Governments created to
strengthen regional communities. RDA Sydney is part of a national network of 55 RDA committees
made up of local leaders. The aim of RDA Sydney is to work with government, business, community
groups and key regional stakeholders to provide strategic and targeted responses to economic,
environmental and social issues affecting Sydney.

This response underpins the objective of RDA particularly to consult and engage with the community on
economic, social and environmental issues, solutions and priorities and support informed regional
planning.

RDA Sydney has just completed a Regional Plan for Sydney that describes Sydney’s attributes, industries,
employment base and key advantages. It sets out the economic, environmental and social vision for the
region, articulating the drivers of change, identifying strengths, weaknesses and opportunities and
listing priorities for action.

The Plan includes inputs from stakeholder consultations and draws information from 66 other existing
plans and reports published by the Australian, NSW and Local Governments and other key agencies.

In the last six months, RDA Sydney has consulted with key stakeholders from 65 organisations
representing:

       peak bodies,
       State Government departments and agencies,
       local councils,
       regional organisations of councils,
       industry associations including chambers of commerce
       urban research centres,
       Australian Government department and agencies
       Consulting firms
       Business development organisations
       Private companies
       Think tanks
       Training organisations.

   2       RDA Sydney’s response to DEEWR Review of JSA and DES

This response provides comments from a Sydney metropolitan perspective. While RDA is not an expert
on employment policy, we are able to provide some input based on what we learned through the broad
range of consultations conducted in the process of developing the Regional Plan for Sydney and through
our own expertise and past experience.

Issues addressed:

      Suggestions for assisting long term unemployed people who face multiple disadvantage
      Disability Employment.
      Skills training
      Mature workers.

   3      RDA Sydney’s response to DEEWR Review of JSA and DES

RDA Sydney supports the Review of Job Search Australia (JSA) and Disability Employment Services (DES)
as it offers an opportunity for continuous improvement and the chance to consider more innovative and
flexible practices to better assist the most disadvantaged groups of jobseekers in Sydney.

RDA Sydney believes that both JSA services and DES may need to make some improvements for Sydney
to facilitate the level of workforce participation that will ensure continuous economic development and
social inclusion in the near future. Currently, workforce participation rates average in the 60-65 per cent
range for most areas of Sydney, but according to Skills Australia, this rate needs to be lifted to 69 per
cent by 2025 in order to provide the required workforce, to mitigate the impact of the ageing population
and improve social inclusion. JSA services and DES have a crucial role to play in achieving this.

On the other hand, the total number of jobs in Sydney will need to grow from 2.09 million in 2006 to
2.85 million jobs in 2036 (an increase of 760,000) according to the Sydney Metropolitan Review 2010
Discussion Paper. While actual job numbers are important, the key will be how those jobs will be filled
not just in terms of numbers but with people with the right skills. This will pose major challenges to JSA.

Most organizations consulted did raise concerns about employment. The need to better assist
disadvantage jobseekers (refugees, Indigenous, youth, mature workers) find jobs; the constant risk of
skills shortages; the current mismatch of employment opportunities with the local workforce skills, and
the constant unmet demand for trade-base skills, were some of the issues raised by key organizations
consulted.

Most organisations strongly recommended focusing comprehensive efforts on the most disadvantaged
communities to break the cycle of unemployment.

DISADVANTAGED JOBSEEKERS
How can JSA services assist long-term unemployed people who face multiple disadvantage be
improved?

   According to statistical data, there are some groups in Sydney who are partially or totally excluded
    from employment opportunities. The Western Belt of the Sydney region has the highest
    unemployment rate, with West Central experiencing the highest rate at 8.7 per cent.

   Current and past approaches to break the cycle of unemployment in pockets of entrenched
    disadvantage (Campbelltown, Bonnyrigg, Canterbury, Blacktown, Blue Mountains) have produced
    mixed results. Unemployment still remains the norm for most of the groups living in those enclaves,
    particularly in social housing as well as for other jobseekers facing multiple disadvantage.

   The consequences of unemployment - poverty, limited social networks, family tensions, poor mental
    and physical health, limited skills and work experience - are all factors that aggravate social
    exclusion. Without adequate intervention the cycle of decline tends to become perpetuated. RDA
    Sydney believes that DEEWR alone cannot alleviate social exclusion and that to address these types
    of problems a cross-sectoral approach is needed.

    4      RDA Sydney’s response to DEEWR Review of JSA and DES

RDA Sydney recommends that place-based strategies be adopted in which all relevant service
    providers work with a multidisciplinary approach to address the barriers (health, housing, education
    etc) experienced by disadvantaged jobseekers. This would encourage service providers to
    communicate and work together to help clients, producing the desired outcomes. Initiatives taken
    along these lines have proved to be successful. We recommend strategies focusing on particular
    geographical areas that incorporate local approaches and that these strategies be included in the
    JSA contractual arrangements.

   The current work experience program is being provided only by non-for-profit organisations. RDA
    Sydney suggests that it be also opened up to for-profit organisations and government departments
    and agencies, so as to enable jobseekers to acquire a broader range of skills, have more options for
    work experience placements, and the opportunity to build networks and contacts in a broader
    diversity of workplaces and professional fields. A clearly defined work experience plan is critical for
    the success of the placement, for both parties (employer and jobseeker). Work experience needs to
    be sold as an employment attraction strategy where employers can benefit from trying potential
    employees, especially in areas of skills shortages.

   More funding needs to be allocated for targeted programs focusing on training and mentoring early
    school leavers, including foundation skills for employment and life. Cross-sectoral strategies focused
    on particular groups of young jobseekers have proved to work well. A good example is the Pathways
    for Refugee Youth (SIPRY) which assisted young people in Fairfield and has been described as one of
    the most successful intervention models.

   JSA services staff should be trained in overseas qualifications recognition procedures in order to
    better assist skilled migrants find employment in their own professional field. Lack of support
    services on arrival has been identified as a challenge. Stream One doesn’t currently provide much
    assistance to this target group. A large number of skilled migrants need information, links,
    resources and assistance at an early stage. Sydney has a highly skilled workforce that could be
    significantly more productive with an investment in information services, retraining and language
    skills and JSA services have a central role to play in this.

   RDA recommends DEEWR allocates funds for the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). JSA services
    staff members also need to acquire expertise in RPL to better assist trades people trained overseas.
    Lack of knowledge in this area can contribute to a waste of skills and to underemployment. RDA
    recommends DEEWR works closely with industry taskforces and TAFE to create RPL competency
    based procedures.

   Targeted programs focusing on retraining and mentoring mature age workers need to be developed.
    Currently there are few initiatives assisting this disadvantaged group. Attracting mature age workers
    is vital to gradually increase workforce participation. There are opportunities to retrain mature age
    workers into mentoring and retraining in their own industry.

   All initiatives to assist the homeless should include an employment component. Employment in fact
    should be an integral part of any social integration strategy. JSA services need to work closely with
    Housing NSW and other organisations in the implementation of the employment components of the

    5      RDA Sydney’s response to DEEWR Review of JSA and DES

Regional Homelessness Action Plans. RDA recommends JSAs work closely with community housing
    providers and homelessness services to develop employment pathways for jobseekers.
   RDA Sydney recommends that the Taskforce for Strengthening Government Service Delivery for Job
    Seekers continues to explore best practice and innovative initiatives to help disadvantaged
    jobseekers.
   Indigenous mentoring is exclusively done by Indigenous mentors. RDA recommends that a support
    structure be created for Indigenous leaders to provide mentoring and attract other leaders willing to
    provide mentoring.

TRAINING
How can better links between vocational education and training providers, employment services and
employers be developed?

   Currently no formal links between JSA services and DES with RTOs and Group Training Companies
    (GTCs) exist. GTCs and RTOs should communicate with both JSA services and DES through a regular
    and formal channel. The PAGES meeting is linked with Centrelink and DEEWR, we recommend RTOs
    attend these meetings. This would assist JSA services and RTOs to regularly communicate with each
    other at a local level to coordinate activities more effectively and avoid duplication around specific
    opportunities, particularly before course intakes.

   JSA services and DES are in a prime position to identify skills shortages locally and assess the current
    and future characteristics as well as changes taking place in the local labour market. A formal
    channel to feedback this information to government needs to be created as it could assist DEEWR to
    plan and develop local employment and training strategies.

   RDA Sydney believes there is a need to adequately resource JSA services and DES to adequately
    promote apprenticeships and traineeships to local employers and work in partnership and
    collaboration with apprenticeship groups so as to better advice individual jobseekers.

DISABILITIES

Any policy refinements should ensure services remain focused on assisting job seekers with a
disability to gain, keep and achieve sustainable employment.

   Unlike JSA services, DES are not eligible for the Employment Pathway Fund (EPF). They can only use
    service fees to purchase interventions for their clients. RDA Sydney recommends that EPFs be
    available to DES so that they are better equipped to assist clients with multiple needs.

   RDA Sydney believes that shorter term job placements are in fact a positive practice in disability
    employment. For job seekers with episodic disabilities short-term job placements may simply reflect
    the impact of disability on their initial capacity to maintain continuous employment. Continuous
    placements may be inappropriate for job seekers with mental health conditions. This needs to be
    acknowledged in the DES contractual arrangements.

    6      RDA Sydney’s response to DEEWR Review of JSA and DES

   RDA Sydney recommends the establishment of structures such as social enterprises and labour hire
    employment where these clients with mental health conditions can find flexible, intermittent and
    possibly ongoing employment. Businesses should also be encouraged to take up third party
    contracts with social enterprises.

   RDA Sydney believes that the NSW State Government’s Disability Employment Plan is a positive
    strategy. It focuses on what the public service can do as an employer or procurer of services to help
    advance the cause of people with a disability. The aim is to encourage government departments to
    procure goods and services to those organizations that employ people with a disability. This is a
    condition to secure contracts. RDA Sydney recommends similar programs be embraced by the
    Federal Government, including DEEWR.

   RDA Sydney recommends flexible servicing options in the form of telephone video conferencing,
    email, and group work, particularly for those clients without transport or living in locations with
    poor transport infrastructure as well as people whose disability impact on their mobility.

    7      RDA Sydney’s response to DEEWR Review of JSA and DES