Acoss report finds just 8% of jobseekers satisfied with their Jobactive service

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Jobseekers are overwhelmingly unsatisfied with the federal government’s outsourced employment program, with most doubting their consultant has the skills required to help them, a new report claims.

A report from the Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss), released on Tuesday, surveyed 311 people about Jobactive, which is set to be examined by a Senate inquiry and is currently the subject of a government redesign.

It said 49% or respondents were very unsatisfied and 24% unsatisfied with their Jobactive service, while just 8% were satisfied. The findings are in stark contrast to government figures that find 57% of people say they are satisfied with the program.

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“Those who were dissatisfied said they did not receive useful help and/or that the experience of attending interviews with providers was stressful,” the report said.

“Their responses to other questions suggested that the provider role in benefit compliance was a major source of anxiety.”

Asked if they found their consultant “supportive and respectful”, only 10% said “always”, while 11% replied “never” and 24% reported “rarely”.

The survey also found 65% did not believe their Jobactive consultant had the skills required for the job, with 59% of those living in areas of high disadvantage saying the services were not tailored to this situation.

“Many people felt they were pressurised by their consultant,” the report said.

“At the same time, people often acknowledged the constraints that consultants worked under, especially high caseloads and an overemphasis on benefit compliance in the Jobactive system. Respondents often commented that provider appointments were quick “tick a box” exercises.”

Jobactive, the government’s $7.3bn outsourced employment services network, was in August referred to a Senate inquiry proposed by the Greens, after a government discussion paper found almost half of the participants had remained in the service for two years.

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Separately, a scathing report by the left-leaning thinktank Per Capita released last month found Jobactive was riddled with issues, as private providers stripped people of their benefits without consulting with government departments.

With Jobactive contracts scheduled to run out in 2020, the government is currently undertaking a redesign of the system and has created an expert panel to provide advice on the system.

In a statement, the jobs minister, Kelly O’Dwyer, said more Australians were in work under the Coalition than ever before.

“Employment services are achieving strong results in helping job seekers move from welfare to work,” she said.

“Jobactive has achieved more than 1.1 million job placements and has delivered better employment outcomes at a lower cost than previous models.”

Amid the redesign, Labor has previously signalled a shift back towards public sector employment services and said it would not be “strongarmed” into honouring new contracts signed before the election.

The Acoss chief executive, Cassandra Goldie, said on Tuesday that Jobactive was “leading to anxiety rather than jobs”.

“We must listen to experiences of people using Jobactive services and design an employment services system that responds to the needs they identify,” she said.

“Over and over people told us that Jobactive operated as a benefit compliance system rather than an employment service.”

Acoss has called for a series of changes, including more flexible activity requirements, such as a reduction in the requirement to search for 20 jobs in areas where employment opportunities are scarce, as well as the abolition of work for the dole.