The 2022 Jobs and Skills Summit’s aim was to bring Australians together to work on the many challenges and opportunities facing the labour market and economy.

One of its core considerations was workforce participation. With Australia at near full employment, increasing participation was considered a significant agenda priority.

“We will work towards reducing barriers to employment and advancement so all Australians benefit from a strong economy,” the Government said after the Summit’s conclusion.

The most significant plank in that plan was to increase the participation of women in the workforce – and the government is rolling out a number of measures to address this.

Second on the participation list was people with disability. With a strong focus on employment during a skills shortage, the long-term unemployed were also mentioned as a concern.

Key relevant outcomes from the Jobs and Skills Summit

The government released a number of outcomes from the Jobs and Skills Summit that are relevant to employment services and DES. They are likely to shape or inform the future of the sector, so should be watched carefully by the industry as we move forward.

• Visitor Economy Disability Employment Pilot

A new 12-month Visitor Economy Disability Employment pilot will aim to deliver place-based employment outcomes in locations around Australia, by connecting small businesses, employment service providers and jobseekers with a disability.

Targeting the tourism sector as it seeks to recover from the pandemic downturn, the Pilot will aim to address a series of barriers previously identified by small and medium tourism businesses seeking to recruit, retain and progress staff with a disability.

The barriers cited by Tourism Minister Don Farrell include:

• A lack of time or capability to recruit people living with disability
• Confusion on how or where to seek support
• An employment services focus on supporting jobseekers more than employers.

The Pilot will fund a team of place-based Local Navigators, who will be trialled over a 12-month period in regional locations around Australia. They will help support businesses directly to look for and place people living with disability into available jobs.

• Economic Initiative Pilot

The Government will sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Business Council of Australia to develop an Economic Initiative Pilot aimed at increasing employment and improving career pathways of people with disability. The Pilot comes in tandem with BCA’s other Summit commitment on disability, which was to help do its part to remove structural barriers that inhibit people with an illness of disability, like job design and recruitment practices.

• Changes to the NDIS

The Government also committed to better embedding employment in National Disability Insurance Scheme plans to ensure those who want to work are supported to do so.

• Changes to Workforce Australia and DES

There is a continued appetite for the evolution of employment services.  The Government said it will continue to work with stakeholders in Workforce Australia and DES to expedite the development of new remote and disability employment service models for the future.

• Additional Employment Services initiatives

The government has said that it will work with other levels of government to explore further options on place-based approaches that drive co-ordination at the local level and address barriers to employment among disadvantaged groups and the long-term unemployed. In addition, it will encourage STEM programs to attract and retain more women, First Nations people, Australians in regions, those who are culturally and linguistically diverse, people with a disability and Australians from low socio-economic backgrounds into STEM careers.

Interested in finding out how ReadyTech can support continued improvement in employment services outcomes? Learn more here.