Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Employment Participation. How will Australia’s new employment services benefit job seekers and help to address the nation’s skills crisis?

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment Participation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Corio for his question. I was recently in Geelong, talking to employment providers, hosted by the member; I do appreciate his interest in this particular area. I am still waiting for the member for Boothby to ask me a question in this place—and I will keep waiting, I am sure.

We have been doing a lot of things in this area. It is important that we get employment services correct. As of 1 July next year, we will have a new system in place, as the old contracts entered into by the previous government expire. The Job Network policies designed by those opposite have failed disadvantaged job seekers. That is underlined by the fact that, in 1999, one in 10 job seekers that were on unemployment income were very long term unemployed; it is now almost one in four job seekers that are on the very long term unemployed list. That is something we must address. As a result of that, we are not only changing the employment services but also ensuring that, over the next five years, there will be 238,000 training places for job seekers.

The new employment services will have a strong focus on work experience, including Work for the Dole. There will be a very effective compliance system where a job seeker will lose income if they miss a day of activity without a reasonable excuse. That particular form of compliance will encourage engagement—that is, if there is a failure to actively involve themselves, they will lose a day and, of course, they understand, therefore, that they have to re-engage for payment to resume. That is a very important part of the system. We will keep the eight-week non-payment penalty for wilful non-compliant job seekers, but that should be a much more limited number than is currently the case.

The new system is about participating, not waiting. For that reason, we will be removing the waiting lists for services—lists we have inherited from those sitting opposite. Making already disadvantaged job seekers wait compounds the problems that they have. The fact is that the new system will allow disadvantaged job seekers to be attended to immediately rather than having them wait for particular periods of time for particular assistance, which is currently the case under the existing system.

I have to say that I do not think members opposite fully appreciate how hard it is for these disadvantaged job seekers to wait. For example, in Parkes, New South Wales, job seekers are waiting for up to 299 days to access the Personal Support Program. Of course, 299 days may not seem all that long to the absent member for Higgins. If you are in a taxpayer funded job waiting 294 days for a book launch, it would not seem that long at all. But the fact is that, for job seekers, it is an eternity. We will be removing those waiting lists as of 1 July next year.

Over the last decade, rather than improve skills for job seekers, the member for Warringah, the member for North Sydney, the member for Dickson and others on the other side of the House spent a long time working out how to vilify and demonise job seekers; they spent their time inventing names for job seekers. I think it is a bit rich that those opposite like to use the term ‘job snobs’ when they exhibit a whole lot of job snobbery on their part. The fact is that we have a member for Gippsland here because his predecessor thought the actual job of looking after his Gippsland constituents was not important enough for him, so he left. The reason why we do not have the member for Lyne and the member for Mayo here is because—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The minister will bring his answer to a close.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment Participation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed. Mr Speaker, the reason that they are not here and we have expensive by-elections is that those members—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member will bring his question to a close.

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Employment Participation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

believe that they are too good to represent the constituents of those electorates. This government is very serious about reforming employment services and having training that will be commensurate with the skills that those job seekers need; we will make sure that we finish doing that. We expect the support of the other side—but, I have to say, after 12 years, they showed no regard for those skill needs for those job seekers.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.