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The Latest Breaking News from Workforce Australia

Centrelink mutual obligations scheme paused amid scrutiny on ‘failing systems’

Department apologises for ‘potential confusion and distress’ after multiple IT issues and payments potentially cancelled in error

The Guardian - AU

Who wants to work for Defence anyway? What you missed on estimates day three

Convictions, internal investigations and strange contracts were uncovered.

The Canberra Times

Job agencies suspending Centrelink payments at an alarming rate, data reveals

Exclusive: smaller Workforce Australia providers, including those catering to Indigenous jobseekers, have effectively suspended more than 90% of their caseloads

The Guardian - AU

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Workforce Australia job agencies forced to return $8.5m in taxpayer funds after huge surge in faulty claims

Exclusive: Money returned to department by privatised employment services agencies doubled in 2022-23 amid apparent crackdown

The Guardian - AU

Jobseeker endured 11 weeks without Centrelink payments but was still forced to attend job agency appointments

Advocates say government failing to meet ‘basic obligation’ to process claims quickly after Tim McCabe spent weeks with ‘no income’

The Guardian - AU

Major Australian employment service accused of claiming credit for work jobseeker found herself

Exclusive: Documents seen by Guardian Australia suggest job provider APM referred woman for role she had already won; APM deny wrongdoing

The Guardian - AU

There are 26 jobseekers for every entry-level position in Australia, report finds

Anglicare chief says its survey shows more than 500,000 people are being ‘left behind’, with demand for starter jobs outstripping supply across country

The Guardian - AU

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Job placement services driven by dole bludger myth

Australian employment services are fragmented and have failed, with a parliamentary review calling for a complete overhaul of the system.

AAP

Australia’s broken employment services system needs public provider, parliamentary review finds

Parliamentary inquiry established by Albanese government declares ‘full marketisation’ of $9.5bn system has ‘failed’

The Guardian - AU

Almost 2 million Workforce Australia payments have been suspended in the past year, with devastating impact

Last year the federal government replaced the jobactive employment support program with what was expected to be a more flexible and improved support system for jobseekers, Workforce Australia.

The Conversation

Five key changes to welfare and work rules in Labor’s employment white paper

Pensioners and jobseekers will be able to work more without losing payments, while Tafe and apprenticeships will get a funding boost in Working Future reforms

The Guardian - AU

Labor eyeing changes to ‘punitive’ mutual obligations for jobseekers, draft party platform suggests

Commitment to review welfare rules for unemployed people has lifted expectations the government will axe requirements such as work for the dole

The Guardian - AU

Australian jobseekers told to use ChatGPT to apply for jobs and shown irrelevant videos

Exclusive: A taxpayer-funded online employability course that included videos on body language contained ‘not curriculum-endorsed materials’

The Guardian - AU

Labor urged to return employment services to public sector amid warning over mutual obligations

Union says compliance measures do more harm than good as Acoss analysis reveals they disproportionately affect vulnerable jobseekers

The Guardian - AU

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The Guardian - AU

ParentsNext has finally been axed but it remains to be seen if other punitive programs will be abolished

Its abolition was long overdue and the Albanese government is to be commended for heeding the calls of experts and advocates

The Guardian - AU

Scrap ‘punitive’ mutual obligation system for Australia’s jobseekers, job agency tells inquiry

Another key industry player suggested government should shut down the work-for-the-dole scheme

The Guardian - AU

Australia’s welfare system puts disadvantaged at risk, inquiry told

Mutual obligation system subjects some participants to ‘punitive conditions’, commonwealth ombudsman says

The Guardian - AU

Labor ditches Coalition’s $2.5m ‘jobdobber’ hotline for employers

Service let employers report jobseekers who rejected jobs or submitted inappropriate applications

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The Guardian - AU

Inquiry grills Workforce Australia agencies on ‘bonkers’ reporting requirements for parental welfare

Committee hears ParentNext program is ‘punitive and prescriptive’, with threats of payment suspensions ‘significantly detrimental’ for families

The Guardian - AU

Thousands of Australians locked out of employment as entry-level jobs dry up, survey suggests

Anglicare says there are 15 applicants per position but many often stand little chance of success due to lack of experience, age and other barriers

The Guardian - AU

Jobseeker’s experience with job agencies left his mental health so poor he could not work

Nathan, now on disability support, says job providers did little to help his search while they claimed thousands of dollars each time he found work on his own

ABC News

Jobseekers receiving Centrelink payments say they're being 'penalised' for studying

One month into the rollout of the new $7 billion Workforce Australia system, jobseekers and students are reporting mass confusion and inconsistencies.

The Guardian - AU

In Australia’s welfare sector obligations are ‘mutual’, but profits flow only one way

As vast network of job agencies rakes in hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars, jobseekers face ‘humiliating’ tasks to maintain payments

The Guardian - AU

Workforce Australia provider makes jobseeker complete personality tests assessing ‘zest’ and ‘spirituality’

Emma Rayward says the surveys used by job agency Asuria made her feel ‘uncomfortable’ and took up most of her appointment

The Guardian - AU

Job agency refers welfare recipients to online course asking basic questions about computers

Employability course created by company related to job agency labelled a ‘waste of time, waste of resources’ by one jobseeker

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