ACOSS welcomes Employment Minister Tony Burke's commitment to ensuring that Workforce Australia is fit for purpose by establishing the Select Committee process announced today.
The Minister is right to establish a process to ensure the model remains fit for purpose over the duration of the contracts.
Acting ACOSS CEO Edwina MacDonald said:
"ACOSS has long argued that employment services need to be designed to give people more choice and agency.
We recently published our survey of people's experiences with jobactive, which highlighted concerns about aspects of the Workforce Australia model that retain deeply problematic features from the jobactive system.
"For too long, people who've been looking for paid work have been blamed for being unemployed rather than actively and positively supported to find jobs.
"The announcement of this review is a good move to ensure the voices of people who use these services inform the reform process, and that feedback from the experiences of the early days of this new model can be used to ensure Workforce Australia is fit for purpose.
