Department of Education, Skills and Employment

Australian JobSearch complaint: From July to August 2016, Robert Watson another provider decided to update my Job Plan to be at the office once on any weekday to apply for 12 jobs a month, which is 36 jobs for three months.

CatholicCare at Sutherland told me that Johnny Grujovski was sick, and this was the reason why Robert was doing this, but you couldn't take sick leave for two months. I asked Johnny who was making the appointments, and he told me it was Robert, so I decided to email him a message because I needed in writing evidence about my complaint.

Early November 2016, Robert decided again to update my Job Plan to be at the office twice on weekdays to apply for 24 jobs a month, which is 72 jobs for three months. This was just harassment because I can only do casual work, and my work capacity is less than 24 hours per week because I'm in the Disability Employment Services program, so after five months of this harassment I made a complaint to Australian JobSearch by late March 2017.

If I hadn't of called Australian JobSearch I would have been doing that forever.

I still had to apply for 12 jobs a month until they closed in July 2018, so for two years I applied for over 348 jobs and I still couldn't find work.

This was passive-aggressive behaviour. Because Johnny was passive by allowing Robert to make the appointments, and Robert was aggressive because there was no control with the jobs I was to look and apply for.

I was bullied by two men.

Answers for the minister to consider.

The assessor determines compliance not the provider: Listed below are the job seeker's requirements for the appointment that should be included in the assessment report. The assessor determines compliance with the job seeker's work hours and medical conditions, and not the provider. These details would be sent to the provider, and then they would put this into the Job Plan:

Level 1: Less than eight hours per week the job seeker is then eligible for the Disability Support Pension.

Level 2: From eight to 16 hours per week the job seeker doesn't have to see an employment services provider.

Level 3: From 16 to 24 hours per week the job seeker is then eligible for the Disability Employment Services program, and the job seeker is then to see the provider once every three months for nine jobs.

Level 4: From 24 to 32 hours per week the job seeker is then to see the provider once a month for six jobs.

Level 5: From 32 to 40+ hours per week the job seeker is then to see the provider once a fortnight for three jobs.

The administration of the law should be applied to providers if they don't comply, or failed to observe an agreement that was in the Job Plan from the assessor. If an offence occurs the job seeker would contact Centrelink, and then suspended payments are applied to the providers as a breach of contract.

Job seekers who need their work hours to decrease or increase would have an Employment Services Assessment, and the assessor would change the work hours and medical conditions in the report.

Start and finish dates in the Job Plan: If the job seeker has been in the Job Plan for more than three years of looking and applying for work then they need a break. This should be 12 months from seeing the provider, so after this time the start and finish dates in the Job Plan would be updated.

There's nothing in the Job Plan to tell the provider how long the job seeker has been looking for work, so if the job seeker changes providers the new provider doesn't even know how long the job seeker has been looking for work.

Job seekers on welfare payments for more than 10 years have no requirements to apply for work, and the work hours remain unchanged after leaving the provider, and Centrelink would have the assessment report.

Job seekers on welfare payments for more than five years and less than 10 years would go into one Job Plan, and job seekers on welfare payments for less than five years would go into two Job Plans with no requirements to apply for work for 12 months between these two plans that go for three years.

Reporting income and assets to Centrelink: The declaring of income and assets are reported every fortnight to Centrelink. If the job seeker has found work then they need to tell Centrelink, and then declare all the money they've earned before tax and insurance deducted. Centrelink are more interested in looking at payslips than the provider.

So it's only when the job seeker has no income and assets to declare that the reporting to Centrelink shouldn't be so often, but this is only applied when the job seeker's work hours are less than 24 or 32:

Level 1: Less than 24 hours per week once every three months.

Level 2: From 24 to 32 hours per week once a month.

Level 3: From 32 to 40+ hours per week once a fortnight.

If the job seeker has died welfare payments are still paid fortnightly into their bank account until the reporting has ceased, unless a representative nominated by the job seeker contacts Centrelink to close their online account.

Compliance is not for job seekers it's for the employment services providers, so they don't harass less skilled job seekers to do more than what's necessary.

TAFE complaint: Early April 2009 my ex-girlfriend received $950, which is over $1150 in today's money to start her Higher School Certificate (HSC) at St George TAFE as part of Kevin Rudd's "economic security" package. She was on the disability pension, and she can only do less than eight hours of work in a week. TAFE and universities shouldn't deliver the HSC because this leaving certificate is for high school students who need an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) that's high for a Bachelor Degree.

If the ATAR is not high enough then it's TAFE's role to deliver Certificate II, III, IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma courses. The federal government should have had a requirement that to receive the $950 students should have finished a Certificate IV or above. Students that have finished a Certificate IV or Diploma are then eligible to do a Bachelor Degree to continue their studies.

People who are on the disability pension should only be eligible up to a Certificate II because of their work hours, and job seekers in the Disability Employment Services program should only be eligible up to a Certificate IV because they can only do less than 24 hours of work in a week.

The federal government should bring back the School Certificate, and have it as an optional leaving certificate for high school students who are physically or mentally not fit to study for the HSC. This would require a letter from a doctor.

Summary

The author recounts a two-year experience of harassment by a JobSearch provider, highlighting the need for stricter compliance measures. The author proposes a tiered system for job seekers based on work hours and medical conditions, with corresponding reporting requirements to Centrelink. The author also criticises the provision of HSC funding to individuals on disability pensions, and have eligibility requirements up to a Certificate II because of their work hours.