By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
FIVE organisations from the La Trobe electorate were last week awarded lucrative Federal Government contracts to help people from the region find jobs.
La Trobe MP Jason Wood last Wednesday announced these organisations had won the contracts ahead of the launch of the Government’s new ‘Jobactive’ program on 1 July.
Mr Wood said Max Employment, Matchworks, AMES, Direct Recruitment Pty Ltd, and Job Prospects had been selected through a tender process to deliver one or more employment services in La Trobe.
These services include Employment Providers, Work for the Dole Coordinators, and New Enterprise Incentive Schemes.
It’s understood the organisations were assessed on their ability to meet the needs of local job seekers, their past performance, and their management arrangements.
The tender was conducted by the Department of Employment in accordance with the Government’s procurement rules, and signed off by an external probity adviser.
“The Coalition’s new Jobactive system will provide clearer incentives to ensure employment service providers are focused on better preparing job seekers to meet the needs of local employers and helping people to find and keep a job,” he said.
“The new model includes wage subsidies for young job seekers, indigenous job seekers, the long term unemployed, the Restart subsidy for older workers as well as Relocation Assistance to help people move to take up a job.
“There is also the Job Commitment Bonus to encourage young job seekers to stay in work and off welfare.”
Mr Wood said the Work for the Dole service would be rolled out nationally to help job seekers to learn skills and stay active while looking for work.
“There will be new Work for the Dole Coordinators working with local community organisations to identify activities and places.
“The Government has also made changes to assist employment providers to deliver services on the ground.
“This includes less red tape, the introduction of five-year contracts instead of three, a mid-contract price adjustment, larger employment regions to promote economies of scale, and an additional loading to support service delivery in regional Australia”.Local job seekers in the coming months will receive advice on which organisation will assist them with looking for work after 1 July 2015.
In the meantime, job seekers are encouraged to work with their existing provider.
For more information, visit the Employment Services website at www.employment.gov.au/employment-services-2015.
