Prosecute Max Employment
Despite the discovery of damning allegations against Max Employment, the Abbott Government has failed to take any legal action against the US-owned billion dollar multi-national corporation. In fact, the Government recently rewarded Max Employment with an $800 million 5-year contact. This is a national disgrace. Join the Australian Unemployment Union in our campaign demanding that Max Employment – and other groups like it – face the consequences of its actions.
In February 2015, an ABC investigation into Max Employment found damning allegations of rorts and systematic mistreatment of the unemployed.
According to the investigation aired by Four Corners, Max Employment regularly sends unemployed clients into "irrelevant training courses" offered by its training organisation arm. This enables Max Employment to collect two separate payments from the Government, maximising its profit in the process.
Unfortunately, there is nothing new about this sort of behaviour. A 2009 Government investigation found that Max Employment had enrolled 141 people into a training course, despite the fact its training room could only fit 15 jobseekers at a time. But according to 4 Corners, "the investigation went nowhere" because a senior Government official told Max Employment they could go ahead and claim fees for the non-existent students anyway!
There are also allegations that Max Employment is 'gaming' the system by deliberately denying services to some unemployed clients deemed unemployable, a practise Four Corners referred to as "parking". Here, the aim is to use as few resources as possible in order to keep receiving Government funding.
The Australian Unemployment Union have received more complaints regarding Max Employment than any other Employment Service Provider. These experiences submitted to our website by a number of unemployed Australians clearly detail Max Employment's punitive approach to the unemployed
As a result of the improper claims lodged by Employment Service Providers, over the last 3 years the Federal Government has clawed back more than $41 million worth of false claims by private employment agencies – including the Salvation Army and the Catholic Church. It is estimated this is only a small portion of the total amount being falsely claimed.
The problem clearly goes much further than Max Employment.
According to a 2012 Government-audit of the industry, only 40% of funds paid to agencies were verifiable. Considering that successive Governments have spent over $18 billion on the privately owned and operated 'Employment Service Provider' system since the privatisation of the Commonwealth Employment Service in 1998, this represents a massive waste of taxpayer funds. The misery inflicted on the unemployed as a result of the privatisation of this essential service is incalculable.
With 11 Job-seekers for every job vacancy in Australia, it is urgent that this money be spent on creating secure work for those who need it.
To prevent the rorting of the system and the systematic mistreatment of the unemployed, the Australian Unemployment Union demands that the Government prosecute Max Employment – and any other Employment Service Provider abusing the system.
Sign this petition and together we can send a clear message to the Abbott Government: Stop Trampling on the Unemployed and Wasting Taxpayers Money!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: This Petition has been recently changed to rectify a number of errors. We now acknowledge that there is no evidence to suggest Max Employment "forged signatures and paperwork, altered contracts after the've been signed, and even billed the government for work they never even intended to do". The Australian Unemployment Union apologises for any inconvenience caused.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------