Unemployment services for those looking for work are not working

If are unemployed, looking for work and using ‘jobactive’, Australia’s current unemployment services, it’s doing very little to help you get a job, suggests new Australian research. In some instances, for some attending appointments caused them psychological distress and many said they kept attending only through fear of losing their benefits and becoming homeless, or not having enough to eat.

The study which was based on focus groups of unemployed and recently employed Aussies, found little support for the claim that these employment services helped people to find work, or that ‘jobactive’ helps them improve their competitiveness in the job market.

The researchers say, contrary to past claims by the Minister of Employment that appointments are “not onerous and are designed to maximise the chances of a person moving from welfare to work”; this study’s findings suggest the opposite.