Address to the Employment Services Provider Forum

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Thank you very much Ben, and thank you particularly to Aunty Joan, or should I say Aunty Ding for that fabulous welcome to country. And I’d like to join with you in acknowledging the traditional owners of the land that we’re gathering on today – the Gadigal people – and pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging.
 
And Aunty Ding – if I can be so bold as to refer to you that way – thank you for reminding us of the importance of listening, of respect, and patience. And I think everyone in the room would agree that they’re certainly concepts that we all try to employ when we’re talking about and thinking about employment services in our country, whether it be for First Nations people or for all other Australians. So thank you very much.
 
Well, I’m your new Minister. How about that?
 
[Applause]
 
Sorry, I wasn’t necessarily seeking affirmation, but I’ll take it.
 
As the new Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, it’s really great to have a chance to meet with so many of you so early in my tenure in this role. I’m really excited to have this role. As I’ll talk to you about, it’s an area that I’ve been interested in, really, my entire working life, and I’ve practiced in this area of employment and workplace relations before. So, I couldn’t hope for a better role, and to be able to take it on at a pivotal time for our country.
 
Now, I’m sure you’ll understand that 10 days into the job I’ve got a little bit to get my head around. But I thought today probably the best thing I could do is give you some insight into who I am and what I’m about, what I’m thinking about employment services, and share some early thoughts about the direction that our government wants to take, in what I think is a really vital policy and services area of government.
 
As I mentioned, I’ve spent my working life advocating to get more Australians into work, and for workers to have better paid, more secure, and safer jobs. I pursued those values as an employment and industrial relations lawyer when I was a little bit younger, and more recently since I’ve been elected to the Senate about eight years ago, I’ve pursued those same goals and same values in the Senate chairing, initially, a Senate Inquiry into the Future of Work some years ago and more recently representing the Employment Minister, Tony Burke, in his portfolio at Senate estimates and in the Senate over the last couple of years. That turned out to be very good training for the job that lay ahead.
 
And so, I’m really honoured to be able to continue in that role now and building on some of the work that I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in earlier in my career.
 
I did take the opportunity this morning before the forum to meet with your peak bodies, and I’m really looking forward to working with you and continuing the good work done by yourselves, by our department, and by my predecessor, Minister Burke.
 
As you will have seen, the Albanese Government has made it a priority over the past two years to create more jobs and get more Australians into work. You may have seen just last month the government announced that almost 930,000 jobs have been created since we came to office just over two years ago. That’s more jobs created in a parliamentary term than any government in Australia’s history. And, of course, we’ve been able to maintain low unemployment and achieve record-high employment despite really tough global economic conditions.
 
In the last ABS reference month of June, unemployment stood at 4.1 per cent and employment rose by 50,200 over the month to stand at a record high of just over 14.4 million people in jobs, and we’re not done yet. Our Government wants to continue creating jobs for Australians and helping Australians find work.
 
You would be aware as a Labor Government we believe in the dignity of work. It’s one of our core principles. So, our government is about people. We believe that everyone who wants to work should have that opportunity to work. They should have support to participate in our community. And we want an employment services system that reflects this, one that puts people at the heart of everything we do.
 
Of course, we also believe that people with the capacity to work should make efforts to secure work where it is decent and available. It was a Labor Government that introduced the concept of mutual obligation, and the Albanese Government supports that concept to this day. But the tasks and activities asked of people should genuinely help people find work, and we know this is an area for improvement.
 
So, to achieve all of this we do need an employment services system that genuinely helps people to prepare for and get a job. And as the Select Committee into Workforce Australia found, the system as it currently stands isn’t working for all people.
 
Our employment services system is helping people but not everyone, largely because it treats everyone the same regardless of their circumstances. Everyone is put in the same basket, whether they’re a mum with caring responsibilities, a uni graduate ready for full-time work, or a person with health conditions that limits their working hours. And as some of you may have heard Minister Burke say, it would be like if lots of people turned up to your local hospital emergency department with different ailments, but everyone got the same support. The system as it currently stands just doesn’t work for everyone.
 
So, we need a more inclusive system to help unlock people’s potential, treat them with dignity and respect, and create opportunities to build financial independence. For too long I think that we’ve been trying to get people to fit jobs rather than working with employers to create jobs that fit people. I think that employment services should meet people where they’re at and give them the support that they need to start their journey to work or to return to work.
 
But the system should also work with businesses, helping them to connect to suitable workers and the right skills. But as the Select Committee found, only 4 per cent of Australian employers are engaging with the system. So, I want government to work more closely with employers to lift their engagement and create more job opportunities for people. And, of course, your organisations will have an important place in that as well.
 
I’m interested in working with social enterprises, too, special employers who are helping shape jobs to fit people’s lives and create opportunities for people to earn and get ahead.
 
In today’s economy we need a labour market where workers, businesses and communities can thrive and everyone who wants a job can find one without having to search too long. Employment services can help achieve that, but I’m sure you would acknowledge that reforms are needed to support this.
 
We do acknowledge there’s a lot to do. The Select Committee gave us a detailed view on the operation of the employment services system, and we broadly agree with the Committee’s findings laying out the case for reform. Many of these findings reflected the position our government had laid out in Working Future, our Employment White Paper on Jobs and Opportunities that was released last year. As you would have seen, the white paper made clear that employment services are part of achieving our vision of full and inclusive employment. That means an economy where everyone who wants a job can find one without searching for too long. And with a strong labour market, now is the time to be investing in people to reduce their barriers to work.
 
The white paper calls on employers to lean into employment services and help create job opportunities as part of building that full and inclusive employment economy. The white paper also made clear that there is a role for well-designed mutual obligations in improving people’s job outcomes. I’m sure you’d agree that poorly designed obligations can push people further away from the labour market, and they’re also bad for employers flooded with unsuitable job applications, submitted just to tick boxes rather than facilitate real job matches.
 
The white paper acknowledged that well-designed obligations can support better outcomes for both job seekers and employers. But they do need to be proportionate, not punitive, and support engagement that actually helps people into work.
 
The white paper, our recent Budget initiatives, and then our response to the Select Committee’s findings, have begun outlining our reform program for employment services. And that will obviously be a key focus for me for the remainder of this term.
 
Now, we know that large-scale reform will take time, but we have taken preliminary steps in the May Budget to help you at a practical level. Ahead of broad employment services reform what we announced in the Budget was $9.6 million in funding to help reduce the administrative burden for your staff and the department, plus improved client servicing and funding to explore how single-touch payroll data can be used to enhance employment services.
 
We also announced $76.2 million over five years for a new employment program to assist First Nations people transition out of the justice system and into work. And you may have seen on the weekend in the Indigenous Affairs portfolio the Prime Minister and our new Indigenous Affairs Minister, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, announced at Garma last week that the Community Development Program – or CDP – is being abolished and replaced with a new $707 million remote jobs and economic development program which will involve 3,000 real jobs being created in the next 20 years with decent conditions and proper wages for workers in remote communities.
 
In addition, the Paid Employment Pathways Package starting in July next year will partner with employers, social enterprise, and providers to pilot new ways of helping people with barriers to work to connect to jobs. And that includes $32.5 million for the Real Jobs, Real Wages program for people at risk of becoming long-term unemployed, providing wage subsidies for up to six months, and retention bonus payments to businesses who employ people in a secure job at the 12-month mark.
 
This new approach will be co-designed with industry peaks with the aim of simplifying how employers access the employment services system. It also includes $26.8 million for WorkFoundations, working with social enterprises and businesses who can deliver paid work placements for people with high and complex barriers to work.
 
Now, the success of these initiatives will depend on you having good information about the opportunities available and the interests of people on your caseload so you can refer people who would benefit from these opportunities. And during the course of today my Department is keen to hear your suggestions about how to make solid foundations for these referrals. We are genuinely open to your ideas on those matters and a range of other things.
 
Returning to the Select Committee Inquiry, as you would have seen, the Government has agreed with the Committee’s findings that we need to focus on a number of issues, things like better understanding and responding to the needs of people within the system, to progressively reform the mutual obligations framework, to ensure the system better supports partnerships with employers, to improve regional and place-based services to better meet the needs of local communities, to recognise the role that different types of organisations can play to achieve our objectives, to develop early and strong feedback loops so that people who use the system can shape how it works, and new ways to manage the performance of providers.
 
As the Committee found, the fully outsourced system isn’t working as it was intended. We do need a different mix of delivery and better tools for job coordination in the APS – the public service. So, I am committed to rebuilding Australian Public Service stewardship in the system, which is why it was one of eight principles of employment services reform announced in the Employment White Paper.
 
Now, I recognise that fully insourcing the program is not feasible, and I have no intention of pursuing that path. I do see a continuing role for providers working with government to connect people to jobs. So, I want you to know that government remains committed to engaging with providers like you, and other stakeholders, to make employment services work better for you, your participants, and for the Government.
 
Of course, though, you don’t need to wait for reforms to make some of the necessary changes that can better place the needs of people and employers at the centre of your service. That can and should be happening now, and I’m sure many of you have got ideas as to how that can happen.
 
From my perspective, to give you one example that I’m already aware of being new in the job, I do want to raise issues that have emerged regarding pay slips. Now, I know that most of you are doing the right thing when it comes to helping Australians finding work, but I do want to take this opportunity to be upfront about the need to stamp out bad practices, including any inappropriate use of the compliance system to obtain pay slips.
 
My Department is investigating where employment consultants have been threatening the use of the targeted compliance framework and in some cases threatening to withhold funding from the employment fund if participants do not comply with the request to provide pay slips by the provider. That practice is unacceptable. Of course, providers may ask participants for pay slips. However, participants are under no obligation to provide this information and they must not be threatened or penalised in any way should they decline to supply them, whatever their reason. Not only is this sort of behaviour inappropriate, but it's also jeopardising productive work opportunities and it’s a practice my Department is capable of taking action against under the deed.
 
So, this practice must stop for those who are doing it. And again, I recognise most providers are doing the right thing. We are watching provider behaviour closely, and we won’t tolerate those providers who are doing the wrong thing.
 
Another piece of work that is underway is the new voluntary pre-employment service for parents starting on the 1st of November. And I’ve announced today that we’ll be calling it Parent Pathways. You would be aware that we did commit to abolish what was really the failed Parents Next program. Women around the country told us that the former government’s program was punitive, counterproductive, and caused real harm. We listened and we acted. In contrast, our new service, Parent Pathways, was designed based on consultation and feedback where parents told us they wanted choice, flexibility, and support. So, we’ve listened, and we’ve acted on that feedback.
 
The program is completely voluntary and it’s about providing support services to meet parents where they’re at, both in location and their stage of life, whether that’s helping parents identify their strengths, develop a new skill, plan for future work or study or access financial support or a referral to community support services to address difficulties they may be experiencing.
 
Starting from the principle that the role parents have in caring for young children is important, the new program will empower the aspirations and job pathways of parents rather than forcing them into unsuitable activities. The name, Parents Pathways, recognises the connection of parents to pre-employment opportunities and that there may be many pathways for a parent before they’re ready to think about study or employment.
 
Finally, we’re also, of course, as a government doing a lot to create more jobs in more industries, to create more opportunities for Australians to find rewarding, fulfilling work, something that I know motivates you as well. And you have an important role to play in making sure that the people on your caseloads, and especially those who have been unemployed for a long time, share in these opportunities.
 
The first example I’d give you is what you may have heard about is the Albanese Government’s Future Made in Australia agenda. And what that’s about is rebuilding and revitalising Australia’s manufacturing industry and drive value-adding across our economy, and that’s a prime example of an area where we’re investing to create new jobs in new industries.
 
And projects that will be funded by the Government under the Future Made in Australia agenda will need to demonstrate that they deliver community benefits, including safe and secure jobs, and new employment opportunities for people who find it harder to get into the labour market or particular industries. So, we expect that there will be some opportunities in that space to work with you around how we can encourage long-term unemployed people into some of these new industries and new businesses.
 
Of course, the other example is the international transition that’s underway towards net zero. And we think that that presents another significant opportunity for Australians looking for work, especially when you consider the incredible solar, wind and other resources that Australia has, unlike almost any other country on earth. And our Government is playing a key role by targeting investments in priority industries and creating more secure and well-paid jobs for local people, including in regional and remote Australia, the part of Australia that actually probably stands to gain more from the transition than anywhere else.
 
Wind farms don’t get built in inner-city Sydney; they get built in regional Australia. There are massive opportunities for employment, whether it be in construction, maintenance, or the downstreaming of that kind of renewable energy that can generate. And, again, we want to work with you to see how we can encourage people into that new type of work as well as the traditional industries that exist in those areas. So, as I say, the work of your organisations will be critical in connecting Australians seeking work to the opportunities of the future as these new industries emerge.
 
In conclusion, you can probably tell that the intent of our Government remains clear – we want to work with you to get the best employment outcomes for all Australians. We are reforming the employment services system and ensuring it is about people first rather than being driven by compliance for the people we aim to support. And I’ve already had some feedback from some of you about compliance frameworks that I’ll certainly be giving consideration to.
 
This area is a real priority for our Government. We are at a unique point in Australian history with low unemployment, despite some of those tough economic conditions that exist. But we know that there are still many Australians who are missing out on that opportunity for work despite low unemployment. And that will take particular approaches and, in some cases, different to what we’ve done before. But, as I say, this is a real priority for our Government, and I really do look forward to working with all of you to deliver an employment services system that puts people at the heart of everything we do.
 
Thank you for your effort. Thank you for the opportunity to have a chat with you.