Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Abetz, the Minister representing the Minister for Workforce Participation. Is the minister aware of recent criticism of the Howard government’s management of Job Network from one of its biggest and most highly regarded members? Is it not the case that a new report from Catholic Social Services Australia confirms that the government provides ‘perverse incentives to delay finding work for job seekers’? Didn’t the report also demonstrate that the government spends over $250 million of Job Network funds on administration and that Job Network staff spend up to half their time on administration rather than on direct client contact? Is it not the case that another major Job Network provider, the Salvation Army, has backed this report? When will the government pull its head out of the sand and acknowledge that Job Network operations require a major revamp?