"Simply put, each individual jobseeker and caseload is different. In regional areas, some locations may have higher concentrations of disadvantaged participants in their caseloads. For example, at VERTO's Walgett site, the current caseload is 86% Indigenous. In Nyngan, 42% of VERTO's caseload are Ex-offenders". 

That revelation has come in VERTO's recent survey of its 88 employees. Verto, an employment services provider which also has offices in Coonamble, Gilgandra, Lighting Ridge, and Narromine, recently presented its results to the House Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services.  

In the results revealed to the Inquiry into Workforce Australia Employment Services, VERTO employees seem to want more carrot and less stick as a way of getting people back into employment in our region. Their colleagues at Joblink Plus seem to agree. 



Long-term unemployment stubborn in region 

Last week the Western Plains App revealed new Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that jobseekers in the Far West and Orana (which includes the Western Plains along with Dubbo and Broken Hill) are taking up to two years to find work, according to new figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. 

The 132-week average for a job seeker to find work across the regions is the longest average since 2017. The average job seeker period in NSW is 13 weeks. 

"A big problem in Australia in the past decade has been the failure of the Jobactive system to provide employment services that really make a difference for long-term unemployed."  

"Financial penalties don't get people jobs" 

The Julian Hill MP observed in his opening paragraph of the Chair's Statement within the Inquiry's Submission Guide that: "A well-known definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.

Yet it seems that is what Australia has done for decades now with key aspects of the employment services system. 

Julian Hill. Image: Australian Labor Party. 

VERTO's Coalface Survey revealed that their employees think "that there are significant barriers to employment for long-term unemployed jobseekers and participants from disadvantaged groups in regional Australia."  

VERTO employees "do not believe that punitive measures" do anything to reduce long-term unemployment.

Under Australian mutual obligation welfare laws, if someone repeatedly misses their appointments, the Government may reduce or suspend their payment. 

 "Triggering payment suspensions in the income support system, for example, is generally not supported as a meaningful way for job seekers to engage in job search and training activities," the parliamentary submission said of their employees' views.

"Instead, employees favour the use of incentives in facilitating mutual engagement and cooperation. Incentives are seen as more helpful in building confidence and trust in the key objectives of face-to-face employment services."

Image: Verto 

"NO participant EVER went and got a job just because their payments were going to get cut off or suspended," one employee said, 

They also opined "that in addition to non-vocational barriers, a lack of experience, skills, and/or qualifications was the primary reason that their current caseload of jobseekers is unemployed." and "believe that addressing the non-vocational needs of disadvantaged and marginalized groups is important in improving the effectiveness of employment services in Australia." 

They want to see more support provided beyond job placement for employers and job seekers. 

VERTO employees suggested greater use of wage subsidies and that some workers are simply better suited to intermittent work that would provide a "less overwhelming transition back into the labor market." 

Image: Verto. 

Joblink Plus calls for "trauma centered" employment services 

Joblink Plus, which also has offices in many towns across the Western Plains, wrote in its submission that "After the initial implementation period, over six years of the Job Active contract Joblink Plus placed 60,000 people into employment, 33% of whom were Indigenous." 

It criticized the current system for having "An extreme' work first' ideology – that is – the belief that securing a participant any job as quickly as possible will result in the best long-term employment outcomes." 

"Joblink Plus believes, and the evidence supports, a direct correlation between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), trauma, and long-term unemployment. One study from the United States surveyed 15,000 participants and found that of the 33% who had experienced a range of ACEs in childhood, almost 75% also experienced long-term unemployment," they said. 

Image: Joblink Plus 

The not-for-profit job provider called for more Indigenous Specialist license providers in the region and the creation of a more tailored approach to take into account employment opportunities in rural areas, such as seasonal work and a person, and a "trauma-centered" approach to long-term employment. 

Whatever the outcome of the inquiry, the task of reducing long-term unemployed looks destined to be a perpetually difficult proposition  

 "VERTO employees note that many participants from these (most disadvantaged) cohorts are not ready to work and are generally exposed to a broad range of socioeconomic and personal issues," their submission said.