The Business Council has a deep interest in services to improve job seekers’ employability and connect them with jobs, including those provided by the Australian Government. We support the Advisory Panel’s intention to review how government can best assist disadvantaged job seekers to gain suitable, long-term employment.

Employment services need to meet the twin goals of providing effective assistance to disadvantaged job seekers, and providing a useful connection service for employers.

While jobactive has been an improvement on previous iterations of employment services, there remains room for improvement. The next employment services model should prioritise:

• improving the suitability of job seekers for long-term employment
• better meeting the individual needs of employers and reflecting changes in the workforce
• orienting resources towards improving outcomes for disadvantaged job seekers, and
• improving the quality of services delivered by employment services.

Submission on future employment services