Category Archives: Announcements

To say 2020 year has been a difficult year is an understatement.

It is a testament to the tireless work of our volunteers that we have come out of 2020 a stronger and more resilient union.

To ensure the AUWU hits the ground running in 2021, we invite eligible members to attend the AUWU Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 12 December. At the AGM a new Executive Committee of Management will be elected and AGM reports received and considered.

In accordance with the AUWU constitution, only active members who do not work full-time will be eligible to vote or nominate for Executive positions at the AGM. Please see the AGM information below for more details.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the AGM will be held remotely. The details of the AGM are as follows

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

When: 2pm, Saturday 12 December 2020

Where: Online only event (invitations will be sent out to eligible voting members and nominees).

Information about nominees and AGM reports will be posted online before the AGM and will be available for all AUWU members. Results of the AGM will be announced after the event.

Please note, only eligible voting members can attend and vote at the Annual General Meeting.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING INFORMATION

• How to Register to Vote at the AGM

If you would like to register to become a voting member of the AUWU, please fill out this online form before 28 November 2020.

Please see the registration form for more information on the eligibility requirements for voting membership. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by Saturday 5 December 2020.

• How to Nominate for a position

If you would like to nominate for the six positions available on the Executive Committee of Management (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, 2 Ordinary Committee Members) please fill out and submit this online nomination / membership form before 28 November 2020.

Please see the registration form for more information about these positions and the eligibility requirements. Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application by Saturday 5 December 2020.  Applicants intending on nominating will only need to fill out the nomination form.

• How to nominate for the National Operations Co-Coordinator position.

One of the first tasks of the new Committee of Management after the AGM is to appoint a new National Operations Coordinator. In 2021, the National Operations Coordinator will be split into two co-coordinator roles.

The role of the National Operations Co-Coordinator is to manage the Operations Committee and develop/implement the annual plan. It is a volunteer position.

The form to nominate for the National Operations Co-Coordinator is here. The position description is available here.

Applications for the National Operations Co-Coordinator close on the 12 December. Members will be notified of the outcome of their application by 21 December 2020.

KEY AGM DATES

28 November – AGM Voting and AGM Nomination applications close

5 December – Applicants are informed of voting eligibility and AGM details

12 December – AGM Meeting Held. Nominations for National Coordinator Close

14 December – First meeting of the new Committee of Management.

21 December – National Operations Co-Coordinator nominees informed if short listed.

If you have any questions about the upcoming Annual General Meeting, please reply to this email.

Finally, a reminder that the AUWU is run entirely by unemployed and underemployed volunteers, has no political affiliations and receives no funding. We rely entirely on donations to survive. If you would like to donate, you can do so here.

In solidarity,

AUWU Committee of Management

The AUWU is proud to announce that we have secured the services of the Australian government’s Translation and Interpreting Service (TIS).

This means that we will be able to arrange for an interpreters for members who do not speak English.

If you would like to arrange for an interpreter to speak to one of our advocates, please fill in our job agency advocacy inquiry form here.

If you need help in relation to a DSP issue, please fill out our DSP inquiry form here.

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.

2. 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
3. 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.

4. 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.

Remember when you had to select a provider and had no information to help you decide? Imagine how much better it would have been if you had accurate information based on real feedback from the people who know best – unemployed workers.

Australia’s employment services are failing unemployed workers.  The AUWU, together with our partners at Monash University, want to change that – but we need your help.

To start the survey please click on this link: HELP US CREATE A RATING SCALE OF EMPLOYMENT PROVIDERS

We know that in health, education, and aged care for example, when you systematically ask people who use a service to rate their experience, the feedback can lead to big improvements.  To do that for employment services, we need a reliable rating scale that people trust.  Right now, there is no rating scale for employment services, so we are creating one.

To do this, we need to start with dozens of test questions and then narrow them down to the “best” ones and this is where you can help.

If you are interested in participating, before you start the survey, you will be asked to read the information for participants and confirm that you:

• are at least 18 years old
• are, or have been within the last year, a client of an employment service
• have understood the information for participants
• know that you stop at any time

To start the survey please click on this link: HELP US CREATE A RATING SCALE OF EMPLOYMENT PROVIDERS

You can also help us by forwarding on this to anyone you know who is a client of an employment service.  We especially want to hear from anyone who is taking part in the online employment services trial

We need at least 100 unemployed workers from across Australia to take this test run.  At the end of the survey you can be entered into a draw to win one of four $50 online shopping vouchers, please provide an email address at the end of the survey.  To be eligible, you need to enter before 30^th June 2020, when the prize will be drawn.  The email address you provide will not be linked to your survey answers in any way – so your responses will remain anonymous.

To start the survey please click on this link: HELP US CREATE A RATING SCALE OF EMPLOYMENT PROVIDERS

Have you ever been ‘parked’ by your provider? The AUWU would like to hear from you!

‘Parking’ means that your provider has decided that you are too hard to help and limits services you are entitled to. ‘Creaming’, on the other hand, means that your provider has decided you are easy to help, or maybe even have lined up a job already, and they provide you with lots of services, including ones that you don’t need.

Together with our partners at Monash University, we are looking to hear from current and former unemployed workers about their experiences of parking (or creaming) in jobactive.

You can participate in two ways.

1.       Tell us your story here – tell us how you knew you had (have) been parked (or creamed), how that felt and what happened to you.

2.       If you live in Brisbane, Melbourne or Adelaide, you can attend a focus group (see below for more details). Focus groups will be for approximately 2 hours and participants will receive a $40 gift voucher.

Please RSVP at one of our focus groups below.

• Brisbane: Monday 20th January at 10.00am – 12pm, Brisbane Square Library 266 George Street, Brisbane, Brisbane, Australia 4000, RSVP here
• Melbourne:  Wednesday 5^th February 2.00pm – 4pm, Monash University Level 7, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia 3000. RSVP here
• Adelaide:  Thursday 6^th February 12.00pm, AUWU National Office, 47 King William Rd, Unley, Adelaide, Australia 5061, RSVP Here

Please click on the event you would like to attend to sign up. We will then be in contact with you with more information about the focus groups.

All information provided will be de-identified and its collection has been approved by the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee (MUHREC).

The information gathered will form a central part of the AUWU’s ongoing efforts to reform the employment services industry. There are limited spots available so get in quickly. Click here to share on facebook.

Please email David if you have any questions: david.ohalloran1@monash.edu.au