James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The incorporated speech read as follows—

SOCIAL SECURITY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (YOUTH JOBS PATH: PREPARE, TRIAL, HIRE) BILL 2016

This Bill will help give effect to the Youth Jobs PaTH Programme announced in the 2016-17 Budget as part of the Youth Employment Package.

From April 1 2017, the Prepare-Trial-Hire Programme will increase young people's employability and provide them with real work experience to get the start they need in the work force.

It will do this by providing a three-stage pathway to work for young job seekers:

Employability Skills Training will ensure that young people have the right attitude and approach to work, are reliable and well presented, so that employers who give them a chance will be rewarded with employees who are enthusiastic and willing to work.

Young job seekers who need to boost their job-readiness, will receive intensive pre-employment skills training within five months of registering with jobactive.

The first three weeks of training will help build practical industry skills with a focus on concepts like working in a team, presentation, and communication. A further three weeks of training will centre on advanced job preparation and job hunting skills;

The Youth Jobs PaTH will encourage employers to hire young people by enhancing their employability, providing them with real work experience, and providing incentives for employers to take them on.

The program will also help to instil confidence among young people and incentivise their transition into employment.

This is truly helping young Australians by getting them ready, giving them a go and getting them a job.

This Bill will enhance the internship and wage subsidy elements of Youth Jobs PaTH.

The amendments mean fortnightly incentive payments to eligible young job seekers placed in internships under Youth Jobs PaTH are not 'income' for social security and veterans' entitlements purposes. This ensures that the incentive payments do not affect participants' social security payments or veterans' entitlements.

For young job seekers, these incentive payments will go further if this Bill is passed.

The amendments also aim to ensure that eligible young people in particular circumstances will be able to have their social security payments restored without having to make a new claim.

Young people will have their payments restored if they lose their job (through no fault of their own) with an eligible employer within 26 weeks of ceasing to receive income support because of that employment.

Early intervention can mean the difference between a young person taking their first steps into a productive working life or entering a cycle of long-term welfare dependency.

Australia cannot afford to leave thousands of young Australians to a lifetime of welfare dependency. We know once a young person is long-term unemployed their chances of successfully finding employment decline drastically.

In addition to the financial cost, the social and human cost is too great for our country to ignore.

The Government is therefore committed to ensuring that young job seekers find work as quickly as possible and avoid moving on to income support and the welfare trap. The Australian community rightly expects that young people should participate in the workforce to the full extent of their capacity.

The Youth Path Programme seeks to meet these expectations by helping job ready young people to fully engage in the labour market to maximise their chances of finding work and avoid moving onto welfare.

Regardless of any of their political or ideological views in relation to the overall Youth Jobs PaTH Programme, I call upon those opposite to support this Bill. It advantages young job seekers and provides them with an added incentive, encouraging participants and increasing their income support.

The Youth Jobs PaTH complements the significant measures for young job seekers announced last year in the 2015-16 Budget. This includes:

These measures are giving young people, and in particular disadvantaged young job seekers, opportunities to succeed in the world of work. The Youth Jobs PaTH represents a scaling up of efforts to improve the employment prospects of a much larger number of young job seekers.

Complementing these measures is the Government's reforms to employment services. On 1 July 2015, jobactive commenced, reinvigorating employment services by reducing red tape so that providers can spend more time doing what they do best – helping all job seekers find and keep a job.

The Government believes that the best form of welfare is a job. These measures will strengthen the business environment and ensure that young job seekers have the capacity, support and incentives to take advantage of new opportunities as they emerge and helping them to realise their potential.