Anglicare Australia says the Government’s changes to disability employment contracts should lead to more scrutiny on the rest of the system.
“Anyone who wants help to look for work should be able to get it. The quality of that support should be guaranteed, and the system should be about supporting people,” said Anglicare Australia Executive Director Kasy Chambers.
“But too often, the system hurts people without helping them. Private providers are being paid millions of dollars to punish and breach people. Our research shows that the system is harming people and driving some to despair.
“This shake-up of disability employment puts welcome scrutiny on the system. Now, we hope the Government will extend that scrutiny to the Workforce Australia system it inherited from its predecessors.
“Workforce Australia is plagued by many of the same issues as the disability employment sector. It is likely that some of the providers who are having their disability employment contracts cancelled still have contracts under Workforce Australia.
“It’s a good sign that the new Government is willing to look at these contracts. The next step is to go further and look at the system as a whole. “Our hope is that the new Government will work with the people at the centre of the system to deliver real reforms. It should listen to their experiences when making decisions about funding and contracts. And it should build a system that aims to help people, not punish them,” Ms Chambers said.