Design and implementation of a citizen centric employment services system
The Australian government is transforming employment services to improve how the system works for job seekers, employers and the community.
Transformational change requires genuine consultation to capture the diversity of views of stakeholders affected by changes, identifying pain points, testing ideas and laying the groundwork for sustainable policy reform.
A citizen centric approach helps to understand the real-world impact, leading to better outcomes and greater acceptance in the community.
Innovation Summary
Innovation Overview
In January 2018, the Australian government appointed an independent Expert Advisory Panel to provide advice on what a future employment services model might look like. Members represented the interests of employers, small business, job seekers, the provider sector and academia.
Independent consultants were engaged to ensure the world’s best practice informed the Panel’s thinking, helping identify reform challenges, the strategic risks and change management associated with designing a new employment services system.
User-centred design leaders supported extensive user-centred research to hear directly from job seekers, employers and providers on their experiences and needs in using employment services.
A summary of this user feedback is available, 'Employment Services 2020: Consultation report'.
A summary of responses to the public discussion paper is also available, 'The Next Generation of Employment Services: summary of consultation responses'.
These conversations helped inform the recommendations outlined in the Panel’s report to government, ‘I Want to Work’, which was released on 14 December 2018. Broadly, the Panel recommended a future employment model that would:
- Target resources to where they are needed most, enabling job-ready job seekers to self-service through digital services, freeing up resources to be redirected towards providing more intensive support for disadvantaged job seekers.
- Provide greater job seeker personal responsibility and choice, enabling job seekers to have greater choice over the activities they do to find work whilst still having to meet mutual obligation requirements and being subject to the targeted compliance framework.
- Increase market contestability by introducing a licensing framework to lower barriers to entry and exit, more effectively drive quality outcomes and reduce the cost and disruption of regular procurement processes.
This work culminated in the announcement of the proposed new employment services model and pilot on 20 March 2019.
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