Advisory Panel on Employment Services Administration and Accountability
The Advisory Panel on Employment Services Administration and Accountability was established in June 2011 to help identify unnecessary administration in employment services.
The advisory panel consulted extensively with large and small employment services providers (for profit and not for profit), peak bodies, government organisations in Australia, the United Kingdom and job seekers and their representatives.
The terms of reference for the panel are available.
The panel released a discussion paper to report on their early findings and possible reform themes and principles to guide improvements to the employment services model for 2015.
The final report of the Advisory Panel on Employment Services Administration was released in September 2012. The report provided a blueprint for the way forward to help employment service providers spend more time assisting people find jobs and less time on paperwork.
The panel’s recommendations focused on the following key areas:
- establishing an Industry Consultation Forum to help inform the development of future employment services
- recommendations on the contract structure, including consolidating the Job Services Australia ‘stream’ structure and longer contract periods
- encouraging greater provider innovation, through contract and system controls
- professionalization of the employment services workforce
- establishing an accreditation scheme for providers and setting industry standards
- introducing a risk-based assurance framework.
The initial response from the Australian Government is available.
The Department also encouraged feedback from interested stakeholders regarding the recommendations on the final report, to help inform the development of future employment services.
Provider brokered outcomes audit
An audit of provider brokered outcomes in Job Services Australia took place in 2011 and 2012.
The then Government commissioned Robert Butterworth, a former senior official from the Department of Finance and Deregulation and the Commonwealth Treasury, to independently oversee the first stage of the audit.
The first stage involved an audit of 14 Job Services Australia organisations across 87 sites. A summary of the findings and recommendations from the first stage of the audit are available.
Mr Butterworth recommended that provider brokered outcome fees be removed from Job Services Australia, and this came into effect on 1 July 2012.
He also recommended that the department undertake a follow up audit of all Job Services Australia providers, consistent with the principles used in the first stage.
The report on the second and final stage of the provider brokered outcomes audit is available.
Servicing Indigenous job seekers in Job Services Australia
The Servicing Indigenous job seekers in Job Services Australia report evaluated the performance of Job Services Australia in servicing Indigenous job seekers, from July 2009 to November 2011. It examined the role of Job Services Australia in closing the gap in Indigenous outcomes, the demographic and labour force characteristics of Indigenous compared to non-Indigenous Australia, and key outcomes and areas of operation.
