Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today because I would like to raise awareness of and acknowledge a group of incredibly impressive jobseekers from the Skills for Education and Employment, or SEE, program, who I was fortunate enough to meet with last week in Launceston. Levi, Sue, Merridee, Abbey, Maddi and Terry are a group of impressive individuals who are proactively working towards obtaining gainful employment and a greater quality of life. Many are also giving back to their community outside of their work-seeking obligations, and I'd like to give a special mention to Abbey, who spends a considerable amount of time volunteering with the Salvation Army.

As their elected member, I'm passionate about doing what I can to ensure that jobseekers have access to employment opportunities, but I acknowledge that there are obstacles which can affect their chances of meeting their obligations or gaining employment. From meeting this group, I heard a variety of individual stories and circumstances. While I certainly understand that a one-size-fits-all approach will not work, there are a number of areas that they raised that present some common barriers. One of these is transport affordability and accessibility, which is an issue that I would like to see improved in order to give jobseekers a real chance of obtaining employment. Additionally, both Centrelink and job network providers require jobseekers to have access to a mobile phone and to the internet in order to fulfil their obligations, but for many of these jobseekers who are already disadvantaged the cost of having a mobile phone or internet at home can be prohibitive, which in turn affects their chances of gaining employment. As somebody who spent quite a few years in casual jobs myself before securing stable employment, I certainly understand some of the challenges that many jobseekers face. I'm proud of the coalition government's continued investment in jobs and growth in my electorate of Bass, but I will continue to raise these issues with my federal and state colleagues in an effort to create some meaningful change in these areas.