TONIGHT: About us not for us – What the Workforce Australia inquiry means for welfare recipients
The Antipoverty Centre and the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union will host an online public meeting about the disappointing Workforce Australia employment services inquiry recommendations and how welfare recipients are responding on Wednesday 13 December.
The inquiry took nearly 16 months and its 650-page report published on 30 November documented major flaws in the system, including harm caused to people in it. Throughout the inquiry’s duration more than 2.5 million payment suspension notices were issued to welfare recipients in employment services for so-called non-compliance, and despite evidence of widespread problems, penalties remain in place.1 This week the Antipoverty Centre has written to minister Tony Burke requesting an urgent pause in payment suspensions.
Interested media and members of the public are welcome to attend the event. Please register to receive details about how to join.
Time: 7pm AEDT / 6pm AEST / 6:30pm ACDT / 4pm AWST
Date: Wednesday 13 December 2023
Location: Online. Register here: wfa-inquiry-recap.eventbrite.com.au
Media contact: 0413 261 362, media at antipovertycentre.org.au
Speakers
Antipoverty Centre co-coordinator and Workforce Australia participant Jay Coonan will present report recommendations and their implications in the short and long term.
AUWU member and Workforce Australia participant Daryl McDonald will discuss recent problems in this system and how he has handled bullying by his job agency.
Economic Justice Australia Senior Project Officer Simone Casey will present recent research and the operation of automated payment suspensions.
Time will be available for questions.
Background and key statistics
DEWR data shows:
2,460,970 payment suspension notices were issued between October 2022 and September 2023 (latest data);
423,560 of the 1,610,160 (26.3%) of all payment suspensions applied were imposed on First Nations people; and
More than 50% of participants who were required to engage with an employment services provider in the two most recent quarterly reporting periods had their payment suspended at least once (earlier reports do not include this information).
As of November, 475 people had provided detailed responses to the Antipoverty Centre’s in-depth employment services survey.
94% of respondents said “mutual” obligations harm their mental or physical health. Written responses indicate the overwhelming majority of people are experiencing psychological harm.
87% said a provider caused a problem with their payment that they had to resolve themselves. Of the 443 people who responded to this question, 266 (60%) had their payment delayed, reduced or cancelled before they were able to get the error fixed.
3.8% of 132 people who gave details about Work for the Dole said a placement led to a job, although all but one were not ongoing roles.
Crisis support and counselling services
If you need support you can seek guidance, counselling or crisis help from the below organisations or talk to someone you trust.
Suicide Call Back Service – general: 1300 659 467
SANE Australia – general: 1800 187 263
13YARN – for First Nations people: 13 92 76
National Counselling and Referral Service – for disabled people: 1800 421 468
Headspace – for young people: 1800 650 890
QLife – fo LGBTQIA+ people: 1800 184 527
Full Stop – for people who have experienced sexual harassment and assault: 1800 385 578
Embrace Mental Health – multilingual service: embracementalhealth.org.au
MensLine – for men: 1300 789 978
Brother to Brother – for First Nations men: 1800 435 799
