Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

An unemployed constituent in my electorate has contacted me and is greatly concerned about the practices of agencies that mark themselves as jobs boards and use job seeker contact details to push training courses onto those job seekers instead of placing them in jobs. My constituent rightly wants these companies that exploit unemployed people to enrol in training courses to be banned.

My constituent, as well as others, state that one company undertaking such practice is OneShift. OneShift is an online job network which matches employees with employers. Many job seekers assert that, after applying for one of the jobs advertised on the website, they receive calls, not about a job from a prospective employer, but from a training organisation wanting them to sign up for courses. These courses are after job seekers vocational education and training, VET FEE-HELP, loan money. These VET funds cover all or part of the job seeker's tuition course costs with a student loan.

Desperate job seekers who wish to improve their chances of getting a job sign up for these courses, all in the hope that a resultant job will allow them to pay off the loan at a much later date, once their income from work reaches the compulsory repayment threshold. For 2015-16 this is $54,126. Some of these so-called colleges offering training courses charge outrageous fees. It is claimed that some charge up to $12,000 for only six months of online training with no face-to-face contact at all.

In a significant number of cases it is alleged that advertised jobs may not even have existed in the first place. In the cases that have been drawn to my attention it can prove difficult, for those who have changed their minds after signing up, to withdraw enrolment. Some of the biggest companies are able to get away with these practices, as they are both a recruiter and a training provider. Their approach can be very aggressive, persistently urging job seekers to sign up to training courses, then and there, over the phone.

My constituent is dismayed that such practices are allowed to occur. For the vast majority of unemployed people who desperately want a job, like my constituent, applying for jobs in the face of constant rejection is trying and often dispiriting. These companies that exploit the desperation of job seekers only worsen the experience of being unemployed. My constituent feels that these registered training organisations are preying on people when they are at their lowest. She rightly feels that the fact that these companies are allowed to continue their dodgy practices reflects that the government does not seem to care at all.

On behalf of those trying their best to find work and to contribute to society—like my constituent, who has tried absolutely everything to get back into the employment market—I urge the government to act now to stop these practices. These companies are exploiting vulnerable people. They are not providing the training that is desperately needed. And they are not finding jobs. It is an absolute sham. It has been going on for too long. These are the people who are currently in the system. I also have many who have come here from overseas to try these courses and have also found that they have signed up to absolutely dodgy deals. It cannot be allowed to continue and more needs to be done to stop this loophole now.