Advice on choosing an (un)employment service provider

Remember, they have obligations to you.  Under this system, you are the ‘customer’.

The government pays jobactive providers $377.30 for initial appointments with under-30s and $269.50 for over 30s. Providers also receive outcome fees of $1515 when their client finds work again.

They need you, more than you need them.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given providers an estimated $210 MILLION WINDFALL

  1. Check this to find all the providers in your local area.

All of them have a Dept of Employment “star rating” from 1-5. In theory this is an indication of how many people they get into jobs but the Senate review of Australian employment services (Parliament of Australia, 2019) reported that many providers game this system.

  1. Ring every provider in your local area before deciding which one is going to get the $$ the Dept gives them when you walk in the door
  2. Ask (write down the answers. Take your written down answers to every meeting and ask for an update to Q1 every time):
    • Approximately how many of your clients started work last week?
    • Can you give me some examples of employers in [your location] that you have links with.
    • What training providers in [your location] do you work with?
    • Does your company ever ask for feedback from your clients? (How is that used?)
    • What is your company’s policy on bullying?

    Any reasonable provider will be able to provide satisfactory answers every one of these questions.

  3. If you need to change providers – here is the guideline.

https://docs.employment.gov.au/documents/transfers-guideline

You can request a transfer by calling the Department’s Customer Service Line 0n 1800 805 260

Remember: you must have a provider that you are transferring TO, you can’t just transfer FROM. See previous step for deciding.

You can transfer by mutual agreement between providers but if this is not possible you can initiate a transfer. The two main reasons are for “relationship breakdown” or “if a change in service provider would be beneficial”. You will need to be able to explain either of these and you will need to be persistent. It might take a few phone calls to the Department’s hotline before anything happens. You can also contact your local MP to help with this.