Employment NFP Calls for Action on Unemployment Rise
17 March 2014 at 9:53 am
An education and employment Not for Profit has called on both sides of politics to work together on long-term solutions to unemployment, after the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showed a rise in jobless numbers.
The ABS recently announced that Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points but the rounded estimate remained at 6.0 per cent in February.
“All the indicators show that a new approach to jobs is needed if we are to prevent this continuing slide,” Kevin Robbie, Executive Director, Employment at Social Ventures Australia said.
“Playing politics won’t cut it because the solutions to these problems won’t be found on either side of the ideological divide.
“They’ll be found in intelligent, pragmatic, collaborative, evidence based approaches that deliver real job opportunities to the 500,000 Australians who are currently excluded and those at risk of exclusion as industries transition.”
SVA said that reform of the training and job placement system was critical, as a lot of training occurs in areas where there weren’t enough job opportunities.
“The system needs to get better at including employers in the design of the training and placement programs – so that their workforce needs can be met by a pool of willing candidates with the skills they need,” Robbie said.
“We’ve seen similar approaches yield impressive results and we’re keen to work with both sides of politics to mainstream this approach.”
SVA said the jobs data could also be seen in the context of even higher rates of youth unemployment, said to be at crisis point in some areas.
“Added to this we need to ensure that disadvantaged young people transition effectively from school into employment,” Robbie said.
“Unemployment is rising amongst this group and a new approach is needed to ensure that disadvantaged young people get the first step on the ladder to employment.
“We know that employers are willing to give young people a fair go but the training, employment placement and community support systems need to be more effectively aligned to make this happen.
“There is uncertainty with some critical funding initiatives facing cuts. We don’t think it is about more money being required it’s about making better use of the funding in the system already.”
The ABS reported the number of people employed increased by 47,300 to 11,530,800 in February. The increase in employment was due to increased full-time employment, up 80,500 people to 8,049,900, offset by decreased part-time employment, down 33,300 to 3,480,900.
