Jess Teesdale (Bass, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

Work is about more than a pay packet. It provides economic security, and it also builds confidence, connection and belonging. That is something we understand deeply in Bass. Across northern Tasmania, from Launceston to George Town, Scottsdale and Beaconsfield, work and jobs underpin our communities and sustain our local economy. But employment in regional Australia is not always straightforward.

In Bass I regularly speak to local employers across agriculture, manufacturing, health care and tourism who are crying out for workers. At the same time, there are people in my community who want to work but face real barriers to getting and keeping a job. Barriers such as limited transport, skills gaps, caring responsibilities, disability, health challenges or long periods out of the workforce can make it much harder for people in regional communities to find secure employment.

Across Australia around 1.7 million people are not working but would like to be. This is a huge pool of untapped potential for us, and that is where employment services need to be making a positive impact. At their best, they should do one thing really well: help get people into suitable and meaningful jobs. But that requires more than matching a person to the next vacancy. It requires tailored support that understands their circumstances and goals as well as a really good understanding of the local labour market.

For too long, our system has been built on a one-size-fits-all approach. In a diverse regional electorate like Bass, that doesn't work. You can't do it. The needs of a young person entering the workforce in Launceston for the first time are very different to someone retraining after years in a waning industry or someone living in a more remote part of the electorate without access to reliable transport. Yet, too often over the past few decades, they have been treated as the same. The result was continuously poor job matches, businesses struggling to retain staff and people cycling back through the system instead of moving forward.

That's why our Albanese Labor government is delivering the most significant reform to employment services in 30 years. At the heart of these reforms is a simple principle: the right support for the right person at the right time. We are ending the one-size-fits-all approach and introducing three service streams so that support is matched to how close someone is to that labour market. For people who are job ready, it means faster and more direct pathways into employment. For people facing greater barriers, it means more intensive and personalised support to build confidence, skills and capacity.

We're improving mutual obligations so that they are actually meaningful and support people into work rather than requiring compliance for its own sake. We're strengthening the assessment so barriers are identified early and people are connected with the right supports from day one. We're introducing the employment goal plans, giving people real ownership over their pathway into work, aligned with local opportunities, including in Bass. It provides realistic support and realistic goals for people moving forward.

These reforms are backed by more than $312 million in the budget. I listened to the previous speaker, who didn't mention employment services to try and help people into work. They referred to Labor as not understanding what the employment services market requires. But we're providing the money. We're backing it with $312 million in the budget. These once-in-a-generation changes recognise the realities of regional communities like mine.

Alongside these reforms, we continue to support fair wages. It really matters in Bass, where workers are employed in retail, aged care, hospitality and other award-reliant industries. So those increases in wages really do mean a lot to us. They mean that our community can continue to do the work that they love and support their families at the same time.

Since we came to government, the national minimum wage has increased by more than $12,000 a year. I've heard the challenges to that, but the people I've talked to are pleased. They are happy. They needed this. That is what we have worked towards. It's a meaningful difference for my families because, if people work hard, they deserve fair pay. These reforms are about building a system that works for communities like mine in Bass, a system that recognises the barriers that people face, supports them into meaningful work and delivers on that basic right: the dignity of work.

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