Job services overhaul sparks criticism

The federal government's $4 billion overhaul of employment services will be
detrimental to job seekers, welfare groups say.
Staff at about 60 employment service providers could also find themselves in the
dole queue under changes announced on Wednesday.
The federal government has chosen 141 providers and 48 sub-contractors to run the
new Job Services Australia (JSA) scheme, which replaces the Howard government's Job
Network.
About 70 per cent of the winning contractors, yet to be publicly named, are existing
job service providers.
Employment Participation Minister Brendan O'Connor admitted the switch to the new
scheme would cost jobs.
But he said anyone out of work because of the changes was likely to be re-employed.
"The outcome will be difficult for those organisations who have not been successful
and we will be working with those organisations and their staff to assist them," he
told reporters in Canberra.
"One thing is certain: for those staff employed by those agencies that have lost
work, there will be plenty of job opportunities for them as the demand for their
skills is high."
Jobs Australia chief executive David Thompson agreed, saying the maintenance of 88
not-for-profit contracts against 28 private sector contracts and only two new
overseas entrants was pleasing.
"People that are currently working ... effectively in a losing organisation will I
expect find it relatively easy to get a job in a winning organisation," Mr Thompson
said.
The JSA, which folds seven separate employment services programs into a
"one-stop-shop", will be up and running by July 1.
Despite a 12-month transition period for job seekers to adjust their service
providers, welfare groups worry that the new scheme will be detrimental to their
employment prospects.
"Businesses are going to be busy worrying about which people to retrench and offices
to shut rather than providing services for the unemployed," National Welfare Rights
Network policy officer Gerard Thomas said.
Under the existing arrangements, Mr O'Connor said there was no provision to extend
95 per cent of current contracts beyond this financial year.
But Mr Thomas said the tendering should have been staggered.
"It's a massive change and we have not even seen an independent evaluation of how
effective the individual services are," he said.
"This is a massive experiment, at a pretty grim time for an unemployed person."
Chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) Clare Martin
said job seekers with special needs would be hardest hit by the shake-up.
"At greatest risk are people who have been unemployed for long periods and require
intensive assistance, as well as job seekers in regional and remote areas where it
is already difficult to find work," she said.
Only 10 per cent of the 280 organisations currently holding government employment
services contracts did not apply to take part in the new system, but the names of
who is in and who is out will not be officially released until Thursday afternoon.
Mr Thompson said a number of high-profile providers would be lining up to receive
the government's $3.5 million business adjustment fund for unsuccessful groups.
"I am worried about some of the 60-plus organisations that are currently delivering
services ... that are not gaining contracts," he said.
"Some of them are very, very well-established high-performing providers.
"It remains a mystery as to why they haven't been allocated some business at a time
when we need the best to be delivering these services."