Job Services Australia


Job Services Australia was an Australian Government-funded network of organisations that are contracted by the Australian Government, through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, to deliver employment services to unemployed job seekers on Government income support payments and employers. It was replaced by the Jobactive program on 1 July 2015.
Job Services Australia providers are initially selected for the network and allocated business through a competitive public tender process, with contract periods running for varying lengths of time determined by the Australian Government. There are over 1,000 sites across Australia delivering Job Services Australia. These sites are managed by DEEWR.
To be eligible for support, people need to be in receipt of eligible income support payments, such as Newstart Allowance, Youth Allowance, the Disability Support Pension or Parenting Payment.

History

Job Services Australia began in 1998 as "Job Network" after the dissolution of the Commonwealth Employment Service. In 1996–97, the Australian Federal Parliament passed legislation to combine the functions of the CES and the Department of Social Security. As a result, Centrelink was created to provide monetary welfare support to people across Australia. The delivery of employment services was tendered out to Job Network organisations whose primary responsibility was to assist people into work.
In 2009, the Rudd Government renamed the program "Job Services Australia".
Job Services Australia is a competitive industry with organisations competing for contracts through tenders. Job Services Australia is currently in its first deed period.

Services

The services provided by Job Services Australia differ according to the level of disadvantage of the job seeker, circumstances or the allowance they are receiving from Centrelink. Services include:
Job Services Australia agencies are rated by DEEWR every six months on performance, based on placing clients into work and keeping them employed for 13 and/or 26 weeks. A Star Rating system is used, ranging from one to five stars; five stars indicate the highest level of performance.
The ratings are calculated using a regression model that looks at the number of jobs or outcomes that a site has achieved. As the details of the model have not been released, agencies are often unsure what their next rating will be.

Industry-related organisations

The peak industry bodies for Job Services Australia members are National Employment Services Association, which represents all employment and employment related service providers, and Jobs Australia, which represents the not-for-profit sector. These bodies represent the needs and wishes of the employment services sector to the Australian Government. Professional development within the industry is provided by organisations including NESA and others such as Diversity@Work, Duality, Job Services Central and Work Savvy Parents to ensure staff are up to date with policies and procedures.

Software

DEEWR provides free software for use in JSA called ESS. Other organisations have created other software for use in the industry.