Future Employment Services Consultation - August 2018
The following presents the key areas of the YACSA response to the Future Employment Services Consultation:
Young people described a system that is often punitive, ineffective and unable to genuinely and meaningfully support them in the context of a weak job market.
Employment service providers were regularly characterised as a hindrance to job seeking efforts with some young people reporting they had achieved, personal, employment and training goals without (and sometimes despite) provider intervention.
Young people reported relatively low levels of service provision in each of the key functions of employment services, with only 18.5% of survey respondents reporting assistance with referrals to job vacancies.
For future employment services to better serve young people, survey respondents have called for more one-on-one services that are respectful, compassionate, flexible, tailored to the personal circumstances and career goals of young people and cognisant of the current job market.
To guide our response, a survey was distributed to all YACSA young members and promoted on YACSA’s social media accounts.
We turned our policy position, and the stories of young people, into articles on The Smashed Avocado.