New Job Active Employment Service Providers Announced for Bonner

 Federal Member for Bonner, Ross Vasta, today congratulated the organisations that have won contracts to deliver employment services to job seekers and employers in Bonner through the Government’s new jobactive employment services model, which will be introduced from 1 July 2015.

Mr Vasta said Help Enterprises, MAX Employment, Sarina Russo Job Access, the Salvation Army Employment Plus, and Tursa Employment and Training had been selected through a competitive tender process to deliver employment services in Bonner.

Employment Providers will deliver the majority of services in the new jobactive system, and help job seekers with activities such as developing a resume, applying for jobs, preparing for interviews, training, Work for the Dole, and case management services.

In addition, a Work for the Dole Coordinator will be responsible for contacting community based organisations and identifying opportunities for Work for the Dole activities. They will work with employment providers to help place people into Work for the Dole activities.

Services to help eligible job seekers start new small businesses will also be available under the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS). This includes small business training, business advice, and mentoring for up to 52 weeks.

Mr Vasta said the current Job Services Australia system introduced by Labor was no longer meeting the needs of job seekers and employers.

“Under Labor, employment services were allowed to focus on process rather than results, to churn job seekers through training for training’s sake, and employment services had become bogged down in red tape,” Mr Vasta said.

“The Coalition’s new jobactive system will provide clearer incentives to ensure employment service providers are focused on better preparing job seekers to meet the needs of local employers, and helping people to find and keep a job.”

“The new model includes wage subsidies for young job seekers, Indigenous job seekers and the long term unemployed, as well as the Restart subsidy for older workers, and Relocation Assistance to help people move to take up a job.”

“There is also the Job Commitment Bonus to encourage young job seekers to stay in work and off welfare.”

Mr Vasta said Work for the Dole will be rolled out nationally to help job seekers learn new skills and remain active and engaged while looking for work. There will be new Work for the Dole Coordinators working with local community organisations to identify Work for the Dole activities and places.

The Government has also made changes to assist employment providers to deliver services on the ground.

This includes less red tape, the introduction of five year contracts instead of three, a mid-contract price adjustment, larger employment regions to promote economies of scale, and an additional loading to support service delivery in regional Australia.

“There has been strong interest in the Government’s tender, and organisations were assessed in terms of their capacity to meet the needs of local job seekers, their past performance and their organisational and management arrangements,” Mr Vasta said.

The tender was conducted by the Department of Employment in accordance with the Government’s procurement rules and signed off by an external probity adviser.

In coming months, local job seekers will receive advice on which organisation will assist them with looking for work after 1 July 2015. In the meantime, job seekers can continue to work with their existing Jobs Services Australia provider.

“I congratulate the organisations that have won contracts to deliver jobactive services in our region, and I look forward to working with them to ensure local job seekers and employers are receiving the services they need,” Mr Vasta said.

Further information on jobactive is available at the Employment Services website or via the Department of Employment’s purchasing hotline (espurchasing@employment.gov.au), or 1300 733 514.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *