When Mark* had to leave his job as a manual labourer six years ago, he applied for help from Centrelink. Although he'd been diagnosed with a back injury, he was knocked back for a Disability Support Pension. Instead he was placed on the JobSeeker payment (then called Newstart), and has been on the hamster wheel of appointments, meetings, and Work for the Dole placements ever since.
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Like many others, he is pessimistic about his chances of finding work under this system.
"No one will want me. I turned 60 last month. The system just doesn't have flexibility for people who work in manual labour jobs and get injured," he says.
Mark is one of 1.2 million Australians on job-seeking payments. Anglicare Australia has been listening to their experiences as part of a landmark study, Asking Those Who Know, released last Thursday.
Through the study, we heard from over 600 people on JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, and other payments. Most are forced to do mutual obligations through a jobs plan, and some have a Jobactive provider - private companies who are paid by the government to run this system.
Overwhelmingly, people like Mark told us that the system filled their time with pointless tasks, administration, and busywork that isn't helping them find work. In many cases, it's actually getting in the way.
Very few people who we surveyed and interviewed believe that these activities are tailored to their needs, or that Centrelink is giving them the support they need. Even fewer think their obligations are helping them find paid work. An overwhelming number believe their Centrelink activities are pointless, and a majority see them as obstacles that stop them from doing more meaningful activities.
In the years since he lost his job, Mark estimates he has applied for over 700 jobs. This sounds like an extraordinary number, but it's typical for people who have been out of work for a long time. They are required to apply for 20 jobs a month. Mark told us he would apply for jobs he has no chance of getting simply to tick a box. He has spent countless hours in meetings with his Jobactive provider. He even worked at a warehouse through the Work for the Dole program, which only got him an extra $20 per week in pay.
Here's the rub for Mark, and so many like him: none of this is leading to work.
One of the people we interviewed, Tina*, was part of the government's PATH internship program. The program has been widely panned as a failure. The scheme Mark was part of, Work for the Dole, somehow leaves people less employable than when they signed up. Many experts believe programs like these actually cost jobs, by offering cheap, disposable labour to businesses who would otherwise hire staff.
All of this is on top of the privatised employment service system, which costs hundreds of millions of dollars each year. One inquiry found that "participants are gaining employment in spite of [the system], not because of it".
It's no wonder that Mark told us he was relieved to have turned 60. Now he is old enough to be exempt from of these activities - by volunteering for 15 hours a week. In volunteering he finds value, connection and, ironically, skills that would actually make him more employable. That is not an option for younger job seekers like Tina.
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In spite of this, Tina told us she actually wants to do activities. She is not alone. Two-thirds of the people we surveyed said they would be willing to participate in Centrelink activities that are fair. Even more would be willing to participate in activities that lead to work. That tells us that people want more support to find work. It also shows the shallowness the activities that people are forced to participate in. Instead of designing tailored programs that make the most of people's enthusiasm and skills, the system pushes them into busywork that drains their time and their morale.
It doesn't have to be this way. The people we spoke to offered a way forward on what this new system should look like. They told us they want real support to look for work, or to contribute to society in other ways. They want to be able to choose their own activities, choose their own training programs, and set their own goals without the threat of punishment hanging over them. Some want to volunteer, or care for family members who need them. Many who were surveyed are already volunteering and working to make their communities better. That work should be valued by a system that is designed to help people, instead of punishing them.
It's time to replace Australia's regime of punishment and obligation with a system that is tailored to people's needs. It should look more like the system that job-seekers want, with less busywork and more genuine help.
There is only one way to realise that vision - by asking those who know, and listening to what they tell us.
- Kasy Chambers is executive director of Anglicare Australia.