CICTAR Report Calls Australia’s $2 Billion Job Services System a Catastrophic Failure
Updated
Updated · Mirage News · Aug 5
CICTAR Report Calls Australia’s $2 Billion Job Services System a Catastrophic Failure
2 articles · Updated · Mirage News · Aug 5
Summary
$2 billion in contracted payments now goes to Australia’s outsourced employment services system, which a CICTAR report says delivers worse outcomes while costing more than the former public model.
CICTAR says large providers use complex ownership structures, with some for-profit and foreign-owned operators shifting profits offshore and minimizing tax instead of reinvesting taxpayer funds in local communities.
The report and union critics say the system rewards quota-driven box-ticking over tailored help for jobseekers, especially older people, people with disabilities, First Nations Australians, and those in regional areas.
In 1998, the publicly run Commonwealth Employment Service operated when unemployment was above 7% and cost about $800 million a year, a contrast critics use to argue for bringing more services back in-house.
Why is Australia's $5.5 billion employment system enriching offshore private equity firms while failing the vulnerable jobseekers it was built to protect?
After 25 years of privatization, is returning Australia's massive employment services to the public sector the only way to stop corporate exploitation?