The
Guardian, 4
May 2019:
“Welfare-to-work” is now
a billion-dollar industry. Providers compete for the lucrative contracts, worth
$7.6bn to the taxpayer over five years when the last round was signed in 2015.
Proponents for the
privatised system argue the model is much cheaper and boasts a better
cost-to-outcome ratio.
But myriad reports –
including recent findings from
a Senate committee and a government-appointed
panel – have found the most disadvantaged jobseekers are being left
behind.
In 2002, a
Productivity Commission report that was largely supportive of the
then-new privatised model still warned “many disadvantaged job seekers receive
little assistance … so-called ‘parking’”. That practice still occurs under this
name today, according to employment consultants who spoke to Guardian Australia
for this story.
When a person applies
for Newstart, they are assigned a Jobactive provider and placed into one of
three categories ordered by the level of assistance they might need: streams A,
B and C.
The outlook for the
most-disadvantaged jobseekers is bleak: only a quarter will find work each
year. Overall, 40% of those receiving payments will still be on welfare in two
years. While Jobactive has recorded 1.1 million “placements” since 2015, one in
five people have been in the system for more than five years.
New data provided to
Guardian Australia by the Department of Jobs and Small Business shows about 1.9
million people have participated in Jobactive between July 2015 and 31 January
2019. In that time, 350,000 – or 18% – have been recorded gaining employment
and getting off income support for longer than 26 weeks.
And of those 350,000,
only 35,852 – or 10% – had been classified as disadvantaged in Stream C.
Since Lanyon was placed
on Jobactive, he’s had eight job interviews and sent in about 150 applications.
Eighteen months ago he says he slept in his car and showered at a homeless
shelter after finding work close enough to take but too far away for a daily commute.
He knows his chances of
getting back into work diminish each day he’s out of the workforce.
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