Employment

Secure work is about giving people stability beyond the next pay cheque. But more than that, work is also about people developing their identity and contributing to their communities. Anglicare Australia believes that work is about more than paid employment – those who volunteer, care for others, and help their communities must also be recognised for their work and rewarded for their contribution.

Position Statement

Anglicare Australia is committed to creating a fairer and more just society. This position statements describe our positions on the issues related to Secure Work.

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Publications

Submission to the Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services

In this submission, we summarise our recent report Obligation without Opportunity, calling on the Australian Government to overhaul employment services, which are failing to place Australians in need into work. Mutual obligation has failed to make an impact on employment, and for many people, it acts as a barrier to finding secure work. We also recommend making employment services voluntary and ending dependence on for-profit providers.

Pre-Budget Submission 2023-24

The submission includes a plan for the next Federal Budget to tackle poverty by raising the rate of JobSeeker and other key payments. The submission includes costings showing that JobSeeker, Parenting Payment, and Carer Payment could all be raised to $88 per day. This would pull almost 2.3 million Australians out of poverty, including 840,000 children. We also lay out plans for aged care, housing, tax, community services, disability, and mental health.

Submission to Workforce Australia (Parents Next)

Anglicare Australia believes that parents and children should be supported. The responsibility involved in caring for children should be valued in and of itself. Anglicare Australia maintains significant concerns about the ParentsNext program, which is mandatory for some people living on Parenting Payment. These relate to the compulsory nature of the program and its punitive and disproportionate Targeted Compliance Framework. Anglicare Australia calls for the Targeted Compliance Framework to be abolished, and recommends that the ParentsNext program be redesigned as voluntary and person-centred pre-employment support program.

Submission to the Employment White Paper

Unemployment has declined, and many believe the employment market is thriving. In spite of this, the number of people with barriers to work seeking employment has barely budged. Those who need the most help to find work, and those who are long-term unemployed, are not benefitting from the recovery in the labour force. In this submission, Anglicare Australia calls for a renewed focus on direct job creation, particularly in entry-level roles, focusing on sectors with high projected demand for workers. It also recommends a major overhaul of employment services to focus on delivering real outcomes, instead of simply administering breaches and obligations. In the meantime, it will be critical to raise the rate of income payments to ensure that people do not get caught in poverty traps while they seek work.

Nothing Left to Give

As part of Anti-Poverty Week, Anglicare Australia has released a report showing that demand is surging for help with food, rent and bills. Nothing Left to Give surveyed Anglicare Australia’s Emergency Relief services.

Submission on Work and Care

In this submission Anglicare Australia advocates for a re-think of our entire approach to work and care, that provides all Australians with a permanent basic income to lift them out of poverty, and value their contribution, regardless of whether it is in paid employment, caring for friends and family, or volunteering in the community. We must do away with punitive and ineffective employment services that fail to take account of people’s situation, and move to a person-centred system that takes into account people’s strengths, goals and circumstances.

Submission on Enhancing Pensioner and Veteran Workforce Participation Amendment

As well as much needed income, work can give people purpose, reduce social isolation, and foster connection to community. In this submission Anglicare Australia supportsthe provisions in the amendment that allow people receiving aged pension or veteran entitlements to have their payments suspended for up to two years, instead of cancelled, if they earn employment income above the maximum threshold. We also call for extension of the Work Bonus to social security recipients under 65 years and support for workforce participation through a universal basic income.

Submission on the Digital Protections Framework for Employment Services Programs

This submission comments on the Draft Social Security (Digital Protections Framework for Employment Services Programs) Determination 2022. It argues that while this Framework is a useful step, the new system has been created in a way that will continue to allow the Secretary and providers to issue rigid penalties, such as payment suspensions and cancellations, without review. It also makes detailed comments and recommendations on Schedule 1 of the Draft Framework.

Submission on Indirect Employment in Aged care

This submission provides input to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Aged Care Employment. The inquiry is exaamining employment models in aged care, and the effects that policies and procedures to preference the direct employment of aged care workers would have on the sector. Our submission reports that services naturally prefer the direct employment of personal carers and nurses where they can. The best way to reduce the reliance on agency and labour hire staff is to improve wages and conditions for aged care workers, attracting more workers into the sector.

Five Ideas Australia Needs Now

Ahead of the Federal Election, Anglicare Australia has released five bold ideas for candidates and parties. Anglicare Australia is calling for a basic income; a jobs guarantee; a community climate fund; a home for every Australian; and a people’s inquiry into Covid-19.

Submission to the Select Committee on Covid-19

Anglicare Australia has laid out a plan to get Australia through the Omicron outbreak, and plan for new Covid variants. Submitted to the Select Committee on Covid-19 the plan calls for free, universal Rapid Antigen Tests for all Australians; a COVID support package for the community sector; a national approach to keep essential workers in frontline service sectors at work safely; and urgent help to keep older Australians safe in aged care.

Pre-Budget Submission 2022-23

In this submission, Anglicare Australia lays out a pandemic plan to help people on the lowest incomes, and the community organisations who support them. The 2022-23 Federal Budget will play a critical role as Australia enters the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and learns to live with the virus. The Government will be required to play a much greater role than it has anticipated, and its leadership will be essential as we enter the next phase.

Raising the Rate of JobSeeker for Good

Research from Anglicare Australia and UnitingCare Australia shows that JobSeeker increases halved the percentage of people living on $7 a day, and left people with more income across the board.

The Cost of Privilege

Research commissioned by Anglicare Australia shows that each year, a staggering $68 billion in taxpayer dollars is spent keeping the wealthiest households wealthy.

Welfare Payment Levels

Anglicare Australia commissioned The Australia Institute to conducted an online survey on welfare payment levels in February 2013.

Submission on Centrelink Income Reporting

In this submission, Anglicare Australia welcomes measures that simplify reporting obligations and reduce payment errors. We also argue that the Government must act on the lessons learned from its failed robodebt scheme before embarking on a new system. We recommends that the reporting changes be passed, on the condition that the Government conducts user testing on these proposed changes. The Government must also show that it has considered any unintended consequences and risks of harm to those using the system.

Submission on Indigenous Employment and Economic Development

Participation and employment are crucial for building inclusive, thriving communities. Yet government programs are failing to help people find work, and are instead punishing them. In this submission, Anglicare Australia argues that harsh penalties are applied carelessly and arbitrarily, leading to wide-reaching deprivation. This is the reality facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in ParentsNext, CDP, and across employment services more broadly. Programs that push people into poverty are not fit to be considered employment support at all.