Nationals MP and Assistant Employment Minister Luke Hartsuyker indulges in job seeker demonization

Macleay Argus: Luke Hartsuyker being sworn in on 18 September 2013

This was Nationals MP for Cowper and Federal Assistant Minister for Employment, Luke Hartsuyker, in a media release on 14 November 2013:

Each year around 35 000 job seekers are reported by their employment service providers for a failure to meet these requirements on five or more occasions.

This is an unacceptably high figure.

The Government is committed to ensuring all job seekers are held accountable for their behaviour when they repeatedly fail to meet their job search obligations.

Australia’s welfare system provides a safety net for people who lose their job.  In return, taxpayers ask that job seekers take seriously their obligation to look for work.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all job seekers understand and fully adhere to their mutual obligation requirements.

What Mr. Hartsuyker didn’t say is that as at 30 June 2013 there were 821,789 job seekers spread across Australia and that 15 per cent of these had a vulnerability indicator such as mental illness or homelessness.

Nor did he say that since 4 March 2013 employment service providers can report these job seekers after one attempt at notification e.g. one missed telephone call.

The Assistant Minster also did not mention that if a service provider decides to generate a report then this report must now be submitted within two business days of the single failed notification attempt.

Neither did he point out that from 1 July 2012 to 31 June 2013 a total of 231,732 or 29 per cent of all participation reports (non-compliance) submitted by employment service providers were rejected by the department; with 9 per cent being rejected because the reports were not valid, 20 per cent being rejected because the job seeker did not receive notification, was not notified correctly, or was not given enough time to meet their requirement and, 62 per cent being rejected because the job seeker had a reasonable excuse.

And while Mr. Hartsuyker’s 35,000 is a nice round figure, the fact remains that in the twelve months up to 30 June 2013 there were actually 33,685 individuals (or 4 per cent of all job seekers) who had been the subject of 5+ non-compliance reports.

It is highly likely that the department rejected some of these non-compliance reports on some of these individuals.

Again something he failed to point out in his not so subtle attempt to turn the electorate against people on unemployment benefits.