25 January 2012   Download the PDF

Insecure work doesn’t make for good jobs

 

In its submission to the ACTU inquiry, In and Out: The challenges of work insecurity, Anglicare Australia argued work insecurity accentuates the disadvantage of those doing it tough, and the solution lies with government and business employers.

 

“Australia is not an equal society” said Anglicare Australia’s executive director Kasy Chambers today “and the changing shape of work threatens to make it more unequal yet.

 

“We are seeing an emerging ‘servant’ segment in the workforce, where work opportunities that do exist for people living with disadvantage are – increasingly – casual, part time or insecure. Consequently, people moving in and out of work never move far from poverty.

 

“People with the least resources, financial and personal, need jobs they can rely on. Understandably, an inadequate or unpredictable income is strongly linked to housing, health, debt and family problems. And for those living on the most inadequate income, such as Newstart allowance, these experiences – poor health, financial stress and risks of homelessness, are almost inevitable. More is at stake than lower productivity levels.

 

“But a good job is hard to find. An Australian Bureau of Statistics report on Job Search Experience this year showed that unemployed people face strong competition for available jobs. The reality on the ground, whatever the theoretical measure of employment, is that there are very few jobs for those with fairly low skills or no recent relevant experience.

 

“Furthermore, key impediments to finding work, identified by the ABS – levels of education, experience, skills translation, access to transport and poor health – are reflected in the experience of disadvantage. The very conditions that might be overcome by work are the barriers to obtaining it.

 

“The experience of Anglicare services is that the people they see want good jobs. It needs a commitment from employers in the private and public sector to create them.

 

“Government, to start, should invest in entry level employment. Small businesses can look at local opportunity. Social service programs ought to be focused on the close connections that provide people out of work the stepping stones to real and meaningful jobs in their line of sight.

 

“In all these cases, the jobs need to be secure. Occasional or erratic work undermines, rather than builds, people’s capacity and well being” Ms Chambers said.

 

 

MEDIA CONTACT Roland Manderson 0412 241 379 | 02 6230 1775

This statement represents the views of Anglicare Australia, as the national peak body of the Anglicare network.

It may not necessarily represent the views of the Anglican Church of Australia or the views of an individual member of the Anglicare Australia network.

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