Documents reveal one trainer was sacked for suggesting an ‘inappropriate’ overnight excursion

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Two companies providing internships have been suspended and four training providers have had their contracts terminated, documents reveal, with jobseekers complaining of poor working conditions and delays in payment.

Interns in the government-backed Prepare Train Hire (PaTH) scheme for jobseekers aged 17 to 24 said they had long waits for their $200 fortnightly incentive payments and in one case a worker said she had been left to work in 37C heat.

The documents, released under freedom of information legislation by the jobs department, also showed one trainer had been sacked for suggesting an “inappropriate” overnight excursion.

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Jobseekers, employment providers and host companies were not named, but the documents showed concerns about compulsory employment skills training, with one jobseeker claiming it was targeted at people from non-English speaking backgrounds and his class had “watch[ed] a Mr Bean film and learn[ed] how to purchase capsicums”. Several others complained it was not appropriate for people with university-level qualifications.

The PaTH internship scheme, introduced in the 2016 budget, uses subsidies to encourage employers to trial jobseekers in work placements of up to 25 hours a week after a course of job-readiness training.

One complaint labelled “inappropriate trainer behaviour” states that a trainer approached two jobseekers about “going on an overnight excursion”.

The jobs department document explained it was “not an endorsed part of the course” and the participants “felt the trainer had inappropriate intentions”. The skills training provider had investigated the matter and terminated the trainer’s contract, it said.

One jobseeker called the jobs department “to express disappointment over her PaTH internship placement in a local cafe” because she felt she was “just used as a ‘dish pig’ and was left to wash dishes all day in a 37C room with no air conditioning”.

The department’s customer services officer advised “this is not the objective of PaTH” but the worker chose not to make a formal complaint.

Two complaints labelled “employment services provider misuse” detail claims that jobseekers had not received the $200-a-fortnight supplement, with delays of up to 12 weeks in receiving payment. Guardian Australia understands these complaints have been resolved.

Three training companies have had their contracts terminated by consent since August 2017 and one more was terminated by the department owing to liquidation.

Jeremy Poxon, a spokesman for the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union, said complaints from jobseekers who had not received their $200 fortnightly payments were common.

He cited a further example of a young person in Queensland being assisted by the AUWU whose eight-week internship had been terminated after six weeks and who had not yet received a $200 payment.

“The $200 fortnightly payment is meant to be paid automatically with a jobseeker’s income support,” he said.

Poxon said while jobseekers may not receive their $200 payments owing to “bureaucratic stuff-ups” it showed problems in the processes of accountability, with “grey areas” of responsibility between job agencies and the department to rectify payments.

The Greens family and community services spokeswoman, Rachel Siewert, said she had raised “major concerns about exploitation, churn, payments below minimum wage, and limited protections for participants” in the PaTH scheme.

“It is clear these limited protections are now culminating in problems in the program demonstrated in the document provided by the department after an FoI request,” she said.

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“The complaints, particularly claims of sexual harassment, are incredibly concerning and demonstrate what we were always worried about, that those on the program would be exposed to mistreatment.”

Siewert said the government had not provided enough detail on how it “will tackle these inevitable loopholes” and protect interns’ health and safety.

The jobs minister, Michaelia Cash, said the government was “proud of its Youth PaTH programme” and said it was disappointing Labor and the Greens had opposed it.

She said it was “delivering real results for young Australians right across the country”, including helping more than 20,000 people into work.

“The department of jobs and small business closely monitors all internship placements to ensure program requirements are met,” she said, adding that: “2,847 businesses have taken interns under the PaTH program, of which two have been suspended for failing to meet the requirements of the program”.