New South Wales, Australia
— The Howard Government has treated people with
disabilities as pawns in moves to prop-up its failed Job
Network program.
Freedom of Information documents
obtained by Labor reveal that the Government is pushing
people with disabilities into the Job network system to
prop up the failing system.
If the Government was really
interested in helping people with disabilities to enter
employment, it would provide additional support to
existing open employment services.
Open employment services, funded by
the Commonwealth Department of Family & Community
Services, are specialised agencies which help people with
disabilities find and keep employment. They have a proven
track record in this specialised area.
Pushing people with disabilities
into Job Network, which does not specialise in supporting
people with disabilities, is not necessarily the best way
to help these people.
Open employment services have
reported that job seekers are deregistering from their
services to transfer to Job Network because they believe
that they will have access to more resources through Job
Network.
There is no guarantee that these
job seekers will be given better assistance at Job
Network.
The Howard Government should
explain why Job Network agencies can provide assistance
to an unlimited number of people, whereas specialised
disability open employment services are funded to assist
a limited number of people.
The Howard Government should stop
using people with disabilities to prop up their failed
programs, and start focussing on the needs of job seekers
who have a disability.
