COMMONWEALTH SERVICES DELIVERY AGENCY
BILL 1996
REFORM OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES BILL 1996
REFORM OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES (CONSEQUENTIAL PROVISIONS) BILL 1996
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Commonwealth Services Delivery Agency Bill 1996
2.1 This Bill establishes a new statutory authority, the Commonwealth
Services Delivery Agency (the Agency), to be responsible for delivering
various Commonwealth services. It will be located in the Social Security
portfolio.
2.2 Initially, the Agency will deliver all programs and services currently
administered by the Department of Social Security (DSS), plus some services
currently provided by the Department of Employment, Education, Training
and Youth Affairs (DEETYA) and the Department of Health and Family Services
(DHFS). These include employment services, income support, child care
payments, student assistance and services to families and youth. In the
longer term, it is intended that the Agency will deliver services that
are the responsibility of other Commonwealth departments [1]
thus becoming a one-stop-shop for a wide range of government services.
2.3 The objectives in creating the Agency are to provide an improved
standard of service delivery to the community and to individuals, and
to increase service delivery efficiency and effectiveness. [2]
The Agency will simplify and streamline service delivery through an integrated
and national network of offices. The current DSS network of regional offices,
together with its Teleservice Centres, Family Service Centres and Retirement
Service Centres, will go to the Agency and form the core of its service
outlets. It will also take on some offices that are now part of the CES
network along with the Student Assistance Centres. [3]
Reform of Employment Services Bill 1996
Reform of Employment Services (Consequential Provisions) Bill 1996
2.4 Comprehensive reforms of labour market assistance for unemployed
Australians were announced in the August 1996 Budget. The proposed reforms
were detailed in a Ministerial statement, Reforming Employment Assistance.
Following the release of that statement the Government consulted extensively
with interested parties across Australia. Fifty-eight meetings, spanning
all capital cities and four regional centres, were held with welfare organisations,
community groups, employment service and training providers and organisations
representing employer and job seeker interests. Some 340 written submissions
were lodged as a part of this consultative process. A report on the public
consultations was released in November 1996 (DEETYA, Reforming Employment
Assistance).
2.5 The Reform of Employment Services Bill aims to set up a more effective
system for the provision of employment services for job seekers by establishing
mechanisms to deliver employment services and by establishing a fully
competitive market for employment assistance. In particular, the Bill
will:
- enable the Commonwealth to engage private, community and public sector
entities to provide employment services;
- define the criteria for participation in the `employment assistance
scheme';
- provide for the procedures for referring participants in the employment
assistance scheme to employment placement enterprises (EPEs);
- outline compliance requirements of job seekers under the Bill;
- allow for the investigation of complaints about the provision of employment
services;
- provide for the review of decisions relating to participation in the
employment assistance scheme and referrals to employment placement enterprises;
and
- include provisions to ensure the confidentiality of information
concerning users of employment services. [4]
2.6 The Bill provides for the provision of `employment services' by private,
community and public sector entities contracted by the Commonwealth. `Employment
services' means unemployment benefits within the terms of the Constitution
and encompasses both unemployment benefit payments and services which
assist the unemployed. In the Bill, `employment services' includes self
help assistance, labour exchange, job search assistance, employment assistance,
and entry level training support services.
2.7 Employment assistance will be the most intensive form of assistance
and may involve training, job search assistance, wage subsidies or other
innovative and flexible forms of assistance as determined by the Employment
Minister. Employment assistance will be based on an assessment of personal
need and will be provided to eligible job seekers by the employment placement
enterprises (EPEs) contracted by the Commonwealth. EPEs will be able to
decide with the participant the optimal kinds and mix of assistance needed
to get the participant a job.
2.8 The public provider of employment services will be the Public Employment
Placement Enterprise (PEPE). PEPE will be a company under the Corporations
Law, wholly owned by the Commonwealth. In line with the Government's requirement
for competitive neutrality in the employment services market, the legislation
does not distinguish among private and community providers the EPEs and
the public provider PEPE.
2.9 The Commonwealth Services Delivery Agency will be responsible for
deciding, based on broad eligibility criteria in the legislation, which
job seekers will be participants in the employment assistance scheme.
To ensure that places are directed to job seekers most in need and who
have the capacity to benefit from assistance, the legislation provides
for discretion on the part of the Agency to ration the flow of people
eligible for employment assistance into employment assistance participation.
The referral process is provided for in the legislation. If there is more
than one EPE to which a participant could reasonably be referred, the
participant will be given the opportunity to nominate the EPE he or she
would prefer. The Agency will nominate an EPE for those participants who
do not express a preference.
2.10 The legislation requires participants to enter into an Employment
Assistance Activity Agreement (EAAA) with the EPE providing their employment
assistance, setting out a program of activities aimed at getting the participant
a job or improving their job prospects. The EAAA will also set out the
rights and responsibilities of the EPE and job seeker and the timeframe
for completing these activities. The EAAA must take into account the participants'
capacity to comply with the agreement.
2.11 Some job seekers may not meet the eligibility criteria for employment
assistance as determined by the Employment Minister. A formal and objective
special needs assessment may see whether employment assistance of the
type and level able to be offered is suitable for the job seeker's special
needs. The legislation enables the Agency to refer a person to a new community
support program in order to gain assistance in accessing services that
will address disadvantages that are acting as a barrier to achieving employment.
2.12 The legislation provides for access by the Commonwealth to information
to enable it to monitor compliance with contractual arrangements and meet
accountability requirements, and also access information for more general
monitoring and evaluation purposes.
2.13 The legislation also provides for the establishment of a national
advisory committee to advise on the provision of employment services and
for the establishment of regionally-based area committees to advise the
Employment Secretary on employment and training opportunities and increase
the Department's responsiveness to regional labour markets.
2.14 Other provisions in the Bill provide for protections and accountability
mechanisms for the government, service providers and job seekers including:
- the means to ensure the confidentiality of information concerning
users of employment services;
- mechanisms within DEETYA to investigate a complaint about the provision
of employment services; and
- access to review of decisions relating to the assessment and referral
for employment assistance, including access to appeal to the Social
Security Appeals Tribunal and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
2.15 The Reform of Employment Services (Consequential Provisions) Bill
1996 deals with consequential matters arising from the Reform of Employment
Services Bill 1996. The Bill repeals the Employment Services Act 1994
and provides for transitional arrangements in relation to the cessation
of the present case management system. Other amendments include extending
the operation of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts to the new
arrangements for the provision of employment services and providing for
the Ombudsman to investigate complaints about the provision of employment
services. The Bill also amends a number of other Acts as a consequence
of the abolition of the CES.
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Commonwealth Services Delivery Agency Bill,
Explanatory Memorandum, p.1.
[2] Minister's Second Reading speech, House
of Representatives Hansard, 4 December 1996, p.7414.
[3] ibid.
[4] Reform of Employment Services Bill, Explanatory
Memorandum, p.4. The description of the Bill in this part has been summarised
from the outline and purpose sections of the explanatory memorandum and
the Minister's Second Reading speech.