Address to National Employment Services Association National Conference 2024

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It’s great to be here with you today, thank you for the invitation to address this year’s NESA conference.

I appreciate how big this event is for the industry.

It’s been nearly 5 months since I became the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and so far I’ve had the chance to meet many of you, but look forward to speaking with more of you today.

Of course, my tenure in this role follows on from the work done by Minister Tony Burke in this portfolio, and I acknowledge the significant work he undertook, particularly around our workplace relations reforms but also in progressing a new approach to employment services.

There are a range of concerns around the operation of employment services that have been raised with myself, my office and the Department - and I will touch on those in a bit more detail in a moment.

First I want to quickly talk about the way our Government sees the work you’re doing on a daily basis.

You’ll have seen our Government talk a lot about the importance of more secure jobs.

As a Labor Government we believe in the dignity of work - it’s one of our core principles. Getting people into secure jobs, with fair wages is also a major cost of living measure, which is forefront in everyone’s minds at the moment.

We believe that everyone who wants to work should have that opportunity to work. We also believe that people with the capacity to work should make efforts to secure work where it is decent and available.

And we want an employment services system that reflects this.

One that puts people at the heart of everything we do.

One that acknowledges that people come to the job market with all sorts of challenges.

And one that works more closely with employers to meet their recruitment needs, connecting people to stronger and more defined job pathways.

We have made it a priority over the past two years to create more job opportunities and get more Australians into work.

Back in October, the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed over 1 million new jobs have been created since we came to office. That’s more jobs created in a single parliamentary term than under any government of any persuasion in Australia’s history. And that’s despite some really tough global economic conditions.

It’s a real credit to workers and employers, and of course, we recognise the important role employment service providers play in connecting people with those jobs.

Only yesterday I was in Sydney and met employers, providers and participants who’ve successfully used this system. Great stories of people gaining work and the income and self-esteem that comes with it, and employers gaining productive workers that help their businesses grow.

At the same time, we know the world of work is changing, and the government is determined to create new opportunities for good jobs in Australia through initiatives like Future Made in Australia and the Net Zero Transition.

As new investment flows, we have a vision for a job market where anyone who wants a job can find one without having to look too long – as outlined in our Employment White Paper.

So, building on the strong jobs growth to date, and meeting our future jobs and skills demands, we need an employment services system that genuinely connects people to jobs, and employers and new industries to the workforce they need. 

Now I’m aware – as I know you’re aware – that the current system is far from perfect.

Frankly, we inherited a very complex system that isn’t properly meeting the needs of anyone involved in it.

The Parliamentary inquiry into Workforce Australia found that we needed to improve the employment services system to maximise its potential - and our Government remains committed to addressing these concerns.

In the time I’ve been in the portfolio, I’ve been struck by how tied up all parties are with compliance – whether it be participants forced to comply with overly punitive and one-size-fits-all mutual obligations, or the boxes your consultants must tick every day on the job which take them away from the important work of actually helping people get into jobs.

Add to that picture, employers swamped with job applications unsuited to the jobs they’re advertising, while all the while struggling to find workers with the right skills.

The system isn’t working well for anyone – providers, job seekers, or employers.

It also generates great waste – of human potential, by failing to fully harness the skills and aspirations of people seeking work. The waste of time involved in unnecessary box ticking and not better supporting employers who need people to fill jobs. And the wasted opportunity to build a stronger, more inclusive and productive economy.

One of the ongoing issues I’ve heard from providers is the IT system and the administrative burden created for consultants in your organisations. We funded some improvements to the IT system in this year’s Budget to reduce the volume of manual processes but we understand there’s more to be done.

I thank NESA for their involvement in the Department’s Advisory Group which will continue to inform the design of a future system.

Of course there needs to be strong accountability on providers, given the huge public investment in this system and the rights of participants to fair and supportive treatment.

But I do think we can do better, in ensuring those performance frameworks add value to this system and deliver the accountability and improvement we all want.

Another issue I’ve heard about is the cost pressures faced by providers, including challenges with the payment model, particularly due to the lower caseloads arising from low unemployment.

One of things I’m interested in is exploring new models of funding employment services including a potential role for block service funding in the mix. I am turning my mind to this, as we consider the design of a new system.

I understand that your industry faces real staffing challenges, including high turnover which makes it hard to build expertise in the sector, and hard for job seekers to build trust with ever changing consultants.

NESA has raised the problem of low wages in employment services as a major factor in staffing challenges. Of course, we went to the last election promising to get wages moving again and we are now seeing that happen. We’ve now seen four consecutive quarters of wages rising above inflation, but we recognise there is more to do, especially in feminised sectors like this one.

This is why our Government has been delivering major gender equity reforms, including making gender equality an object of the Fair Work Act, and creating a process for the Fair Work Commission to consider historic undervaluation of feminised work.

That work is now underway across 5 priority Awards. The scope of these reviews is a matter for the Fair Work Commission who take applications from industrial parties.

While the award of most relevance to you - the Labour Market Assistance Industry Award – is not one of the five initial awards being considered by the Commission, their work will continue and I encourage NESA to make applications to the Commission for consideration of this award in any future process.

The bottom line is that we want providers to continue to deliver good outcomes for participants, and we are committed to working with you to help you do that. 

As you know, our government has committed to ambitious reform of the employment services system.

I’ve been listening to stakeholders on reform, both to better understand how the current system operates and to get feedback and suggestions about changes.

Both peaks and providers are important to the reform process, providing practical insights into how the current system is working, and how government can build a better one.

As part of this process, we’ll continue to engage with people using services, their representatives, employers, and providers.

We’ve already undertaken specific consultations on reform measures which are currently being implemented.

And this engagement will continue, to ensure we design and deliver a more inclusive, effective and equitable system that works for everyone.

While there is much more to be done to settle the exact form of that new system, the principles and features that will sit behind it are becoming clearer.

We need to better understand and respond to the needs of people within the system, with more tailored solutions, to suit people and places.

We need to progressively reform the mutual obligations framework, to make it less punitive and increase its focus on genuinely supporting people to find work.

It also means improving how the system responds to the local needs of the people seeking jobs, and of local businesses who need staff, including through stronger partnerships, to better meet the needs of communities.

We need to better connect the objectives of a stronger, quality skills system with TAFE at its heart, to employment services, so people can get on a track toward a real long-term job. It doesn’t make sense that our skills system operates totally apart from the employment services system.

We need to make sure that people who use services can actually shape how it works, and to develop new ways to manage the performance of providers that focus on stronger job pathways.

One of the other recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee, was to get the APS closer to the action.

Many of the problems of the arms-length, full contracting out approach has been too big a distance between the APS and what really happens on the ground.

It has made it harder for the APS to coordinate the system effectively, and ultimately be accountable for the outcomes it must deliver for the Australian people.

This is why rebuilding APS stewardship was one of eight principles of employment service reform announced in the Employment White Paper – and we remain resolute to these values.

The fact is an effective employment service industry – like other major government-funded services - relies on strong and stable APS Stewardship to work with the sector and continuously improve.

We are learning through pilots in service delivery.

The new and improved Parent Pathways program was launched on the 1st of November.

This service was designed based on consultation and feedback where parents told us they wanted more agency, flexibility, and support while they handled caring demands for young children.

As part of this new service, we are trialling APS service delivery in Adelaide. By having some have skin in the game, we can better understand the system and environment that you work in every day.

Whilst only a month in, we’ve have been told by those who involved in this service, that the changes we have implemented are helping parents get back into the workforce.

Both Minister Burke and I have previously ruled out a fully insourced system, but there are benefits to all of us in trialling greater APS involvement, to better understand delivery.

We want to learn from these experiences, and work with you to make front line service delivery more effective, freeing up employment consultants to work with participants.

At the same time, we must acknowledge that there have been issues around trust in the employment services industry, arising from some genuine integrity issues.

Our Government is committed to weeding out those providers who are not doing the right thing, in an effort to restore confidence in the sector as a whole.

Strengthening the integrity and transparency of employment services, now and into the future, is a focus for us.

Our Government has committed $13 million over the next 5 years to improve people’s experience so they can focus on getting a job.

For a start, we want people to better understand their obligations. This means people will be given an extension, from two days up to five days, to re-engage with their provider when they miss a requirement. It also emphasises that attending work takes priority. People should not face compliance action for not attending an appointment when they’re on the job.

It means ensuring the tasks and activities asked of people genuinely help them find work, and we can do better here.

And, I’m pleased to announce today, that the Government’s new complaints service has now been set up to improve accountability and resolve issues instead of having people always referred back to providers to deal with problems. That’s based on feedback from participants and providers that this was not the best way to resolve such complaints.

As part of the service, matters will be reviewed and investigated where needed. Complaints data will inform how services are assessed and rated, and there will be routine public reporting to provide transparency around complaint numbers and user experience.

And a discussion paper will be released shortly to gather feedback on complaints service, and how it should function long term.

I’m also very pleased to be able to announce today, the extension of the Local Jobs program, which we will fund for another two years, through to June 2027.

I know that many of your teams have been engaging with the program and its Taskforces and this has been delivering really positive outcomes.

Local Jobs focusses on strengthening local connections to meet local workforce needs.

Again, I saw these programs in operation in Western Sydney yesterday and came away very impressed.

It’s clear that tailoring programs to a region allows local priorities to be identified and addressed, and recognises that job hunting isn’t a one size fits all exercise.

The extension reflects our commitment to place-based approaches and continues to evolve the program as part of the next phase of the Employment Services Reform.

I’m confident the extension of the Local Jobs Program will help communities address local workforce shortages, as well as structural or systemic barriers to employment.

I encourage you to continue to be active in these local networks.

I’ll leave it there so we can get on the Q&A.

I hope what you’ve taken from my remarks today is that our Government values the work you do and hears what you’re saying about the need for improvements in this space, so that you can all do the best job you possibly can for jobseekers.

We are committed to working with you to fix those things, in a consultative manner.

It has been an incredible few years for job creation in Australia, with new challenges but also great opportunities in the future for those with the experience in brokering jobs and creating job pathways.

I hope you all enjoy the remainder of the conference and are able to engage further in the panel discussions.

Thank you.