Chris Crewther (Dunkley, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Youth Jobs Path: Prepare, Trial, Hire) Bill 2016. We can all appreciate the importance of the need to get young people into work and how hard it can be to obtain employment without experience or relevant training. Australia's youth participation in our workforce is critical to ensure we counter the problems of an ageing population and a diminished workforce. We are duty-bound to make sure that young people can access employment opportunities and are able to step into these roles and participate in meaningful employment.

As the electorate with the current highest economic growth in Victoria, central to Dunkley is its support for enterprise and localism. For the 12-month period ending September 2016, the unemployment rate sits at a regular level similar to other electorates, but when that data is narrowed down to the 15-to-24-year-old demographic, that figure more than doubles. And when we look at underemployment, it is even higher. This is a common theme across Australia.

There are many reasons why young people may be unemployed or underemployed—that transition period between study or work, or being committed to full-time education—but the concerning reason is being unable to find work or being ineligible for a job because of a lack of a foundation in industry. One of our biggest problems with bringing young people into the workforce is that many employers want experience in a successful job applicant, yet no-one is willing to give them that experience as that experience can only be gained through working in business or in industry. This makes it near impossible to enter the system, short of working for free in order to gain that foothold. That is the juxtaposition of needing experience to get a job but needing a job to get experience.

In Dunkley, we currently have over 6,500 people claiming youth allowance or Newstart payments. Many of these young people would like to work if they were given the opportunity. We, the coalition government, would like to give them that opportunity to work. Nationwide, we have over one million people claiming either youth allowance or Newstart. This number does not include those who may be on other payments related to this period in life, such as Austudy, ABSTUDY or the disability support pension, among others. Welfare dependence is a real risk for this cohort, and long-term unemployment cripples people's ability to avoid welfare dependency. Welfare dependency is a space that no-one wants to be in. It harms self-esteem and takes away independence.

This legislation aims to get 120,000 vulnerable young people out of that harmful cycle by helping them get ready, giving them a go and getting them a job—in this case, known as 'Prepare, Trial, Hire'—and I am proud to be part of a coalition government that is taking action in this area. Particularly as the youngest MP in the House of Representatives, I am personally very passionate about this issue.

Preparing young people for work is absolutely essential. We do not want to throw them in the deep end, especially when many may not have had the opportunity to experience the demands or expectations of a job. Things like working as part of a team or presentation skills tend to be acquired through the experience of actually being in situations where those skills are required. If you have not had the chance to learn these skills, it is unreasonable to expect those entering the workforce to display them. This demonstrates the thoroughness of this legislation, having the depth to make it actually practical. Assisting young job seekers to obtain employment without helping to provide the foundations to perform well and maintain said employment is irresponsible and can set people up to fail. We acknowledge this existing issue, and this aspect of the program addresses these problems.

Employability skills are not always expressly required; rather, it tends to be taken for granted that people entering the workforce will be in possession of skills, such as IT skills or personal presentation skills, or even that they will have had experience of working, or be competently able to work, as members of a team. So many of these abilities are transferable to many situations in everyday life, and the comprehensive preparation that the Youth Jobs PaTH provides young people is commendable.

Trialling an industry through an internship is an option for jobseekers who have been in employment services for six months or more. This internship, while voluntary for jobseekers and businesses, means that participants can gain valuable hands-on experience without feeling like they have committed to something or that they are being asked to undertake work for which they are unprepared. From the perspective of the employer, they have the advantage of seeing what a young person, a young worker, is capable of, especially when they are individuals who may not otherwise be part of the pool of prospective employees available to the business.

Further to this, the internship is designed not to hinder either the participants or the businesses financially. Those young people who take up the opportunity will receive an additional $200 a fortnight on top of their usual income support payments. This means not only that there is a financial incentive to participate but also that this kind of program is clearly linked to progress in jobseeking. In participating, young people actually feel that they are getting somewhere in a system which, thus far, has not been successful for them. Furthermore, businesses that do take on interns will be assisted by a singular up-front payment of $1,000 so that there is an incentive for both the employee and the employer to take this on. For businesses that may otherwise feel that they cannot afford the time required to sufficiently mentor or support these young people, the coalition government recognises and supports their goodwill in taking on an intern and provides the additional assistance they may need to enable them to participate in the internship program.

Hiring these young jobseekers is, of course, ultimately the aim of the program. Stemming from the trial stage, businesses have the opportunity to keep on jobseekers who have already experienced their work. The option also exists to hire in combination with apprenticeships or traineeships. This program aims to ease the path to permanent employment for some of our most vulnerable young people, and the three-stage process of 'prepare-trial-hire' supports both jobseekers and businesses every step of the way.

Once employment is offered, the support does not cease. In the case of those young people who have been in employment services for six months or more, businesses who offer employment as of 1 January next year will be eligible for a wage subsidy starting at $6,500 regardless of the degree of employability of the individual. These are not one-off payments but ongoing over several months, maintaining involvement with the business and the jobseeker. In the case of those who still have barriers to employment, a larger wage subsidy of $10,000 will be offered to encourage businesses to help these young people in the system and not to let them continue to fall through the gaps.

The impact of the Youth Jobs PaTH program is such that it truly gives young jobseekers a chance to access employment, training and opportunities in a way that they may not have been able to before. The people who will be able to take advantage of this program are those who have encountered barriers and obstacles in their efforts to find work, whether due to health or socio-economic factors or because they have been unable to obtain the necessary experience for the job. For example, a young Langwarrin resident in my electorate of Dunkley was recently in the news for having applied for over 200 jobs without success due to an eyesight condition, with employers turning him away once they were aware of a disability. He is a perfect example of someone who wants to work—who wants to be able to contribute—but is struggling to find that opportunity. This program is designed to ease this path. Indeed, this program is about preventing welfare dependency before it starts—a crippling cycle which, for many people, is immensely difficult to get out of. By teaching employability skills and expectations of the workforce, this bill prepares our young people for the workforce, contributing to ensuring workforce sustainability, particularly with an ageing population.

Furthermore, an additional $88.6 million will be invested into promoting innovation and self-employment through the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme. Broadened access for people who are not receiving income support payments provides opportunities for training and mentoring for those who seek to set up their own businesses. The government's National Innovation and Science Agenda supports enterprise and the ideas boom, making our country's economic tradition something to be capitalised on, with new opportunities presenting themselves for innovative young Australians. Training and mentoring will again be available to eligible jobseekers, support which will continue over the first year.

With regard to employers, this bill is important as it works with businesses to bring a larger cohort of talent into Australia's labour force. The coalition government is partnering with businesses to bring these young people into the workforce and enabling these businesses to develop their own staff talent pools, with the aid of financial subsidies and streamlined programs. The jobseekers who come to them, through the internship or through the hire step of the program, are already prepared and equipped for their placements through their intensive pre-employment skills training. This makes it easier for businesses to accommodate or work through any of the barriers that these young people may have encountered previously when seeking employment. With government and business working side by side, we will help our young people become part of the workforce and facilitate the economy's transition to broad-based growth over the next decade and beyond.

This social security legislation amendment bill works to secure Australia's future growth and prosperity by boosting the workforce to provide for opportunities and industries of the future. It will achieve increased involvement in the workforce by catching those for whom the employment networks and services have not worked. The bill ensures that jobseekers are not disadvantaged by taking part in the program, with the supplementary payments complementing, not detracting from, their existing social security payments. It amends the Social Security Act 1991, the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 and the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 to ensure that the Youth Jobs PaTH program is not in conflict with existing legislation and fulfils the youth employment measures announced in the May budget.

In not classifying the fortnightly incentive payments as income for social security and veterans' entitlement purposes, the bill does not penalise those already on payments, who are some of our society's most vulnerable people. This legislation is about protecting and helping to advance the situation of these individuals, not detracting from the little support they receive. The coalition government's commitment to a hand up, not a handout, is what this bill is about.

In Dunkley, we have some wonderful services that assist young people in seeking employment, and they all demonstrate the same story. For example, the Treasurer, Scott Morrison, visited my electorate during the election campaign to see the wonderful work that the Brotherhood of St Laurence do, and the amazing, energetic young people looking to create a career for themselves through the Brotherhood of St Laurence. The fact that these services exist demonstrates that many young people out there have a desire to work but are being failed by the system. The Youth Employment Package will help to get young people ready, give them a go and help them get a job.

This legislation is a fantastic part of the government's National Innovation and Science Agenda, providing opportunities to disadvantaged and vulnerable young people for whom barriers and circumstances make it difficult to access employment. Many young people experience difficulty in finding work, as I have said previously, because many employers require experience, yet few will offer it and still pay jobseekers while they gain that experience. This cycle continues to catch many young people and leaves a large number dependent on welfare.

This is precisely what this legislation aims to avoid. The government is committed to giving our young people a go. This bill provides for an enterprising new approach to youth unemployment, providing 120,000 young job seekers with opportunities for training, internship experience and a path to a job. We want to make it easier for young people to enter the workforce. Having a job boosts their independence, life experience, self-esteem and their own skills development. Everyone has something to contribute to our economy and the Australian labour force. This legislation only makes it easier for young people who, thus far, have been unable to participate. For these reasons, I commend this bill to the House.

Debate interrupted.

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