1. IMPLEMENTING CHANGE: A NEW LOCAL AGENDA FOR JOBS AND GROWTH
9th Annual Meeting
IMPLEMENTING CHANGE: A NEW LOCAL AGENDA FOR JOBS AND GROWTH
In co-operation with the EU Presidency, Irish Government and Pobal
26-27 March 2013, Dublin-Kilkenny, Ireland
PLENARY SESSION II: LOCAL EMPLOYMENT STRATEGIES IN RURAL AREAS
Sally Sinclair
CEO, National Employment Services Association, Australia

2. Regional, Rural and Remote Employment Strategies – the Australian Experience
Presented by:
Sally Sinclair, CEO
National Employment Services Association
27 March 2013
OECD LEED 9th Annual Meeting - Dublin

3. NESA is the voice of the Australian employment services industry
NESA is an industry association and the peak body for the Australian employment and related services industry
Australia has a fully outsourced employment services delivery model
NESA represents and advocates on behalf of contracted providers to ensure that we achieve:
Continuous improvement to design, delivery and performance of employment services for stakeholders, and
A sustainable and vibrant industry.

4. Key Elements of Policies & Programs
Personalised, individualised services
Targeted resources – geographical areas, target groups, specific eligibility, demand-led initiatives
Partnerships & collaboration – wrap around servicing,
co-location, case co-ordination
Outcomes focus
Social inclusion
Matching skills and labour demand and supply
Communication – government websites, use of intermediaries and employment services provider networks

5. Responsive Policy & Service Framework
The contracting arrangements of Australian employment services support a dynamic and responsive policy environment. The purchaser maintains the right to vary DEEDs and supporting guidelines to include new initiatives and respond to changing circumstance and priorities throughout the contract period.
Complementary Programmes:
Targeted Industry Support
Structural Adjustment Packages
Cohort Focused Initiatives
Mature Age Workers
Early school leavers
Long term unemployed – Wage Connect Subsidy Program
Indigenous Employment Program
Examples of policy used to focus on individual geographic areas and participant cohorts

6. Responsive Policy & Service Framework
Geographically Targeted Initiatives
Local Connections to Work
Priority Employment Areas
Local Employment Coordinators
Jobs and Skills Expos
Disaster Response Packages
Connecting People with Jobs
Regional Development Authorities
Regional Education, Skills and Jobs Coordinators
Skills Focused Initiatives
Apprenticeship Kick Start Initiative
Examples of policy used to focus on individual geographic areas and participant cohorts

7. Geographic Remoteness at a Glance
Geographic distribution of Australian families
Over two-thirds (69%) of Australians live in major cities, one in five (20%) live in inner regional areas, one in ten (9%) in outer regional areas and around one in forty (2.3%) live in remote or very remote areas (1.5% remote and 0.8% very remote). These figures represented, in 2009, 15.1 million people living in major cities, 4.3 million in inner regional areas, 2.1 million in outer regional areas, 324,000 in remote areas and 174,000 in very remote areas (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2010).3
While Australians of all backgrounds reside in the different regions across Australia, the Indigenous population has a much greater concentration in the more remote areas.
Although 2.4% of Australia's population are Indigenous, their geographic distribution across Australia is quite different. Indigenous people comprise 1% of the population in major cities, 3% in inner regional areas, 6% in outer regional areas, 15% in remote areas and 49% in very remote areas.

8. Activation Access to employment assistance
All unemployed and significantly underemployed people of working age are eligible to receive assistance through Australian Employment Services.
Early engagement
All new income support claimants are connected to employment services on first contact with Centrelink
Appointment with employment services providers scheduled for a time within 2 working days through an electronic diary
Granting of income support subject to commencement with employment services provider
Additional direct registration pathways for voluntary (non activity tested) job seekers
Background on employment services framework for all programa

9. Activation – Mutual Obligation
Australia has strong mutual obligation policies that promote the responsibilities of job seekers in return for unemployment benefits
Foundation Activity and participation requirements:
Be actively looking for paid work and/or be participating in another approved activity, and
Be willing to take any suitable job that you are capable of doing, including full-time, part-time and casual jobs.
Requirements are recorded in an Employment Pathway Plan
Job search requirements
Referrals to employment services providers
Paid work
Referrals to specialist assistance, and
Other approved activities that job seekers will undertake to improve their chances of finding work.
Role of mutual obligation and compliance responsibilities in all employment services programs. Significant reporting requirements by providers to government agency Centrelink (Department of Human Services)

10. Australian Employment Services Framework
Centrelink
Social Security
Employment Services Gateway
Job Seeker Compliance
Framework
Complementary Programs
National Employment Services Data Base
National Performance Assessment Framework
Commonwealth Department of
Education, Employment & Workplace Relations
Policy & Program Administration, Development & Implementation
Purchasing & Contract Management
New Enterprise Incentive Scheme,
Harvest Labour Services,
Experience +
Youth Connections,
Language, Literacy & Numeracy,
Indigenous Employment Programs
Employment Services model currently.
New Remote Model from 1 July 2013 – more details in later slides

11. Long Term Unemployment Risk Assessment Job Seeker Classification Index Factors

12. More intensive assistance for those at relatively more risk
Tailored Service Provision
Example of JSA services and general underpinning policy principle of most intensive services to most disadvantaged. Assessment process though for linkage to services determines relative disadvantage rather than actual.

13. Tailored Service Provision
Flexible, Tailored Service Model enables integrated wrap around service assistance to address individual needs and local circumstances
Job Placement Services
Job Search Support
Employer Services
Job Search Facilities
Skills Assessment
Individual
Case Management
Employment Pathway Plan
Community Linkages
Access to resources to support interventions
Post Placement Support
Work Experience
Range of Activities
Work for the Dole
Training
Volunteering
Work Trials
Basis for employment services program modelling
Complementary Programs
New Enterprise Incentive Scheme, Harvest Labour Services, Experience +, National Green Jobs Corps, Youth Connections, Language, Literacy & Numeracy, Indigenous Employment Programs

14. Employment Pathway Fund
Flexible pool of funding to purchase assistance to help job seekers get and keep a job, such as:
Vocational & Employability Skills Training
Work related clothing and safety equipment
Licences & certificates
Short term travel costs
Relocation costs to commence employment
Other personal support services, including dental, health and housing assistance
Employer Assistance – Wage subsidies, on-the-job training and mentoring for job seekers.
EPF credits are attached to job seeker commencement but not to the job seeker.
A notional bank and reimbursement model

15. Performance Framework
3 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPI 1 – Efficiency
KPI 2 – Effectiveness
KPI 3 - Quality Assurance Framework
KPIs 1&2 assessed on the basis of performance measures and weightings = Star Ratings
KPI 3 ensures providers deliver the services contracted and that job seekers receive quality services
Star Ratings are used by:
job seekers to assess the comparative performance of providers in their local area
providers to measure their contractual performance
DEEWR to measure performance and allocate business share to providers
Statistical regression analysis used to allow comparison of provider performances across Australia
Job seeker characteristics
Labour market characteristics
Period of performance assessment six monthly milestone periods that conclude at the end of June and December

16. New Remote Model New Remote Model
Key features of the Remote Jobs and Communities Program:
Remote Employment and Participation Activities
Individualised, tailored assistance
Participation Account
Funding to address vocational and non-vocational barriers
Remote Youth Leadership and Development Corps (Youth Corps)
Tailored mentoring and training support
Community Action Plan (CAP)
Employment, economic and community development goals
Local stakeholder partnerships
Workforce Development Strategy
Regionally focused and demand-led strategies
Employer collaboration to address skills and labour shortages
Community Development Fund (CDF)
Initiatives to build community capacity
The new Remote Jobs and Communities Program (RJCP) will provide a simpler, more integrated and flexible approach to services in identified Remote Regions from 1 July 2013
The Remote Jobs and Communities Program will integrate and build on the services currently provided in remote regions by Job Services Australia (JSA), Disability Employment Services (DES), the Indigenous Employment Program (IEP) and the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) program.

17. OVERVIEW MAP OF 59 REMOTE REGIONS
Overview of Map of 59 Remote Regions
These are the 59 specified regions that the new Remote Jobs and Community Program will operate in.

18. National Broadband Network – Future Strategies
The National Broadband Network will:
Provide high-speed broadband access to all Australian homes and businesses through a mix of three technologies:
Optic fibre
Fixed wireless
Next generation satellite
93% of Australian homes, schools and businesses will have access through optic fibre
Optic fibre is capable of providing broadband speeds of up to one gigabyte per second
All Australian homes and businesses to be connected to national broadband by the end of the10 year roll out
Australia mostly relies on an ageing copper telecommunications network to connect our homes and businesses to the internet, so our broadband performance lags behind many other countries.
Technology is advancing faster than at any other time and its playing a bigger part in our daily lives: form learning and communicating to health and business.
All these advances require more data. In fact Australian internet data downloads grew by more than 50% last year.
Globally internet data traffic is expected to grow fourfold from

19. Some Resources Some Resources
Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations
Priority Areas
Demography and Population
Families in regional, rural and remote Australia
Some resources for further information on Australian demographics and education, employment and training

20. Website: www.nesa.com.au
Contact Details
Contact Details
NESA
Level 8, Albert Road
South Melbourne, VIC 3205
Australia
Phone:
Website: