The Sydney Morning Herald
The $4.7 billion welfare-to-work scheme is at ”high risk” of being defrauded by the government’s designated employment agencies, according to a confidential federal government assessment.
The assessment was ordered after an external audit of the Job Services Australia program last year identified more than $100 million in fees in just two years had been improperly claimed.
WELFARE recipients must have more regular assessments to address changes in their personal circumstances that require different levels of support, the country’s largest welfare organisation has told the Abbott government’s review of the sector.
Feb 21 2014
The Australian
Mission Australia chief executive Toby Hall said his organisation, which had participated in informal consultations with the review in recent weeks, argued the system needed root-and-branch reform because it was failing vulnerable Australians by not providing the right supports to improve their lives.
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Business confidence fell from seven points in February to four in March, according to the National Australia Bank monthly survey on Tuesday. Business conditions remained subdued but lifted slightly to one point in March.
Optimism was at its lowest level since its post-federal election bounce last year and mining was the least confident industry, the report said.
April 06, 2014
Stephen Drill
News Limited
JOBSEEKERS are angry that job agencies are advertising for staff without having positions to fill, as the fight for work in Victoria intensifies.
And the ACTU and charity group Vinnies have raised concerns about unemployed people getting pushed into training that does not lead to genuine jobs.
Victoria is now the hardest places to get a job in Australia, with almost nine unemployed people for every vacancy.
That comes after cuts at Boeing last week and the planned closure of manufacturing at Holden, Toyota and Ford.
By Angus Whitley Apr 3, 2014
Bloomburg News
Determined to shake off his depression, Rankin registered with an employment agency and landed a job last year at a metal components factory. Now he’s building a new life with plans to buy a car and find his own place to live.
“I’ve been feeling alive and like I’m worth something,” Rankin, 32, says in an interview in the west of Sydney. “When I got the job, it was just like winning the Lotto. I felt free.”
The equivalent of 7 percent of Australia’s workforce claims a disability pension — more than double the population of the capital Canberra — and the government needs more recipients to work to rein in a A$138 billion ($128 billion) social-security bill it says is unsustainable. Disincentives to seek a job in current policies mean the biggest losers are those with health problems or disability, almost half of whom live in poverty.
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