In brief
- Australians will be triaged into one of three tiers as they try to find a job.
- The government will also introduce mutual obligations that it says will be "effective, fair and proportionate".
People on welfare payments who access employment services will be funnelled into three distinct streams under reforms aimed at making Australia's beleaguered system fairer.
More than one million Australians — many of them on programs such as JobSeeker — are currently required to see privately owned employment services providers under a $2 billion-a-year scheme aimed at getting more people into paid work.
But the system has been plagued with claims of unfair suspensions from support payments.
Workplace Minister Amanda Rishworth will outline a three-tiered system for people who are dealing with Workforce Australia as they try to find a job.
She says the move will be a big change from the current approach where all job seekers are triaged in the same way.
"A one-size-fits-all approach, across all elements of Workforce Australia, is letting too many participants fall through the cracks and creating inefficiencies in the system," Rishworth will tell the National Press Club in a speech on Wednesday.
What are the changes?
Service Stream One will be the lightest touch: a digital service for people who are ready to work.
Under Service Stream Two, private providers will help participants build skills and confidence to return to the job market, while Service Stream Three is reserved for people with complex barriers to work who need intensive support.
Rishworth will also flag changes to Australia's mutual obligation system, which requires welfare recipients (such as those on JobSeeker) to accept any work they're offered and attend interviews or training services in order to receive income support.
The current system primarily uses a Points-Based Activation System where job seekers must hit a 100-point monthly target through job applications, interviews or training, with failure to do so leading to a pause in payments.
The scheme is designed to ensure welfare recipients are actively searching for work, but advocates claim it punishes people who have complex needs and may struggle to find a job.
It has also been criticised in two Commonwealth ombudsman's reports, which have found the suspension of many people's welfare payments for failing to meet their jobseeking requirements may have been unlawful.
Rishworth will outline changes to the mutual obligations system that she says will assist job seekers.
"The second change is the introduction of effective, fair and proportionate mutual obligations, that are reflective of an individual's distance from the labour market and are designed to actually help people get a suitable job," she will say.
Rishworth will also flag further discussions with job seekers, employers, providers and communities as the government fleshes out its reforms.
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