Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Australia (Ratification: 1969)

Other comments on C122

Observation

Direct Request

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Previous comments: observation and direct request

The Committee notes the observations of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) received on 30 August 2021. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this regard.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Employment trends and active labour market measures. The Committee notes that in October 2022, the seasonally adjusted total labour force participation rate stood at 66.6 per cent, the unemployment rate at 3.5 per cent (3.5 per cent for men and 3.4 per cent for women) and the underemployment rate at 6 per cent, down from 8.5 per cent in July 2017 and 7.9 per cent in 2021. In regard to long-term unemployment, the Government indicates that on 30 June 2021, there were 742,456 who were long-term unemployed persons on the Jobactive program, that is, namely persons registered with Employment Services for 12 months or longer. It further states that between 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2021, 738,237 long-term unemployed were placed in jobs. The Committee notes that, as of July 2022, the New Employment Services Model, equipped with a funding of AUD5.9 billion, replaced Jobactive as main employment service programme. With its increased investment for disadvantaged workers, the Model is comprised of a personalized digital platform containing a range of tools, including online learning and job matching for the different needs of jobseekers - with job seekers needing extra support receiving intensive case management through an employment services provider. The Government states that the Australian labour market is diverse and flexible and provides various forms of working arrangements to meet a variety of needs from businesses and workers as well as greater opportunities for work to facilitate trends such as greater participation of women in the labour market, increase in the number of persons in education and supporting older workers transitioning into retirement. It states that in June 2021, the part-time share of employment stood at 31.5 per cent of whom 51.6 per cent are casual, that is, employees without either paid sick or holiday leave entitlement. In May 2021, 23.7 per cent of all employees were casual employees, which is equal to 2.6 million people. In August 2020, 4 per cent of all employees were on fixed-term contracts, 18.3 per cent of which without leave entitlements. In August 2020, around 1 million workers, or 8.2 per cent of the workforce, were independent contractors operating their own business, contracting to perform services for others.

In its observations received on 30 August 2021, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) considers insecure work as one of the most pressing issues faced by workers in Australia and that the country had one of the highest rates of non-standard work arrangements in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), with nearly 24 per cent of all employees working on a casual basis. The ACTU recognizes that while some of these forms of employment had a legitimate purpose, they are increasingly used by employers so as to avoid the responsibilities associated with a permanent ongoing employment relationship, with the existing legal framework fostering the use of various types of employment to shift the employment risks and costs to the worker. It concludes that there were currently no pathways for workers in insecure work to access more secure, better-quality jobs.

The Committee recalls that active policies designed to promote full, productive and freely chosen employment also need to be attentive to the extent to which economic growth translates into decent work creation in the economy. They also participate to better labour market outcomes and to poverty reduction. In this context, the Committee hopes that in its next report the Government will respond to the concerns raised by the ACTU by indicating how the issues raised related, inter alia, to long-term unemployment, underemployment and insecure work, have been discussed in policymaking and implementation fora in view of the employment promotion objective of the Convention that plays a critical role in combating poverty and social exclusion.

Youth employment. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that despite improvements, for example in regard to the unemployment rate which fell from 12.8 per cent in July 2017 to 10.2 per cent in June 2021 and a decrease of the underemployment rate by 1.4 percentage points over the period to 16.2 per cent, young people continue to face disadvantages in the labour market. The youth unemployment and underemployment rates for men and women decreased during this time frame. For men, the unemployment rate has decreased by 1.5 percentage points reaching 12.1 per cent. For women, it has decreased by 3.9 percentage points and stands at 8 per cent. As regards the youth underemployment rate, it decreased by 0.1 percentage points for men resulting in 15.4 per cent underemployment in June 2021, whereas for women it decreased by 2.7 percentage points to reach 17.1 per cent. During the same time, the number of jobseekers under 25 years of age participating in Jobactive amounted to a total of 319,660 (177,630 men and 142,030 women). In addition, the Committee notes that during the same period, the Transition to Work (TtW) service, which provides intensive, pre-employment assistance to improve the work readiness of young people who have disengaged from work and study, resulted in 64,932 job placements (36,604 men and 28,328 women) and 135,848 activity placements (72,907 men and 62,941 women). The ParentsNext programme, which prepares young parents under the age of 25 years for employment has registered a total of 73,827 participants (1,458 men and 72,369 women). In addition, 37,742 men and 24,312 women were placed under the Youth Bonus Wage Subsidy, which provides up to AUD10,000 to employers over a six-month period to hire eligible young job seekers between 15–24 years of age. The Committee notes that further to targeted programmes at the territory level such as in Western Australia, as of 31 May 2021, 85,634 young people participated in the JobTrainer Fund established through a cooperation between the federal and territory levels to provide free or low fee training for job seekers and young people, including school leavers, to upskill or reskill in areas of identified skills needs. It also notes the National Work Experience Program (NWEP), which gives job seekers an opportunity to participate in real-life unpaid work experience, gain confidence and demonstrate their skills to potential employers (304 men and 226 women under the age of 25 accessed the programme). The Committee notes the Job Ready Fund in Tasmania, which is aimed at removing barriers to employment for young first-time jobseekers through up to AUD500 for the purchase of essential equipment, such as White Card accreditation, work boots, protective clothing or tools. Furthermore, the federal Government also continued implementing the Youth Jobs PaTH (Prepare, Trial, Hire) programme, providing (employability skills) training to 73,488 men and 48,812 women and work experience placement through internships and wage subsidies to 7,432 men and 6,609 women. Reiterating its previous concerns, the ACTU remains adamant that the PaTH was not effective in moving young people into work as it would result in displacing wage-paying jobs, fell short of the aim to achieve meaningful qualifications and excluded participants from the protection of OSH legislation. While duly noting the measures taken to promote youth employment prospects, the Committee notes the important concerns put forward by the ACTU on the effects of measures taken on not only the quantity but also the quality of youth employment and asks the Government to respond to these observations in its next report.

Women. The Committee notes that most of the targeted programmes on the federal and territory levels, such as Jobactive and TtW have a women’s component. During the implementation period of Jobactive and TtW and up until 30 June 2021, 847,949 (41.7 per cent of all), respectively 32,920 (43 per cent of all) women could be placed in jobs. The Child Care Subsidy forms the center piece of the Child Care Package targeting financial assistance to low-and middle-income families to help cover the cost of childcare, thereby encouraging workforce participation of women. Furthermore, the wage subsidies paid under Jobactive, which are being increased from AUD6,500 to AUD10,000 to incentivize employers to hire, train and retain disadvantaged job seekers benefited 100,608 women until June 2021. The Government further reports in regard to Victoria that the Gender Equality Act will improve gender equality across Government and public sector organizations and complement the work of the Victoria Equal Workplaces Advisory Council to guide and advocate to the Victorian Government and to Victorian industry and employers, practical and tangible ways to achieve gender pay equity in Victorian workplaces. The ACTU observes that women were over-represented among workers in insecure and low-paid jobs and were shouldering the majority of unpaid domestic and care labour before the Covid-19-pandemic, following which 21 per cent of the female workforce (1.3 million) lost their work or is experiencing pressures on their capacity to retain paid work. It further brings forward that before the pandemic, only 43 per cent of employed Australian women worked in a full-time permanent job with entitlements such as paid sick leave. Inadequate support for working parents and a lack of affordable quality early childhood education and care and adequate paid parental leave meant that many women rather held part-time jobs. The ACTU concludes that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and migrant workers face a double burden of discrimination and inequity, with less access to secure work and fair pay because of both their race and their gender. The Committee notes the recognition of the importance to coordinate employment and social protection policies, notably in order to contribute to the promotion of gender-sensitive outcomes.The Committee notes that the Government has not responded to the observations brought forward by the ACTU and hopes that in its next report the Government will provide information on the concerns raised regarding the over-representation of women in insecure and low-paid jobs. The Government is asked to continue providing information on policy and technical measures aimed at increasing both the employment quality and levels of women at the national level.

Indigenous peoples. The Committee notes that in 2018–19, the employment rate of indigenous peoples in remote and non-remote areas of the country was 36 per cent and 52 per cent, respectively, being highest in the Australian Capital Territory (61 per cent), followed by Tasmania (54 per cent) and New South Wales (54 per cent), and lowest in the Northern Territory (37 per cent) with men reporting a higher overall employment rate (54 per cent) than women (45 per cent) – these rates have remained stable since 2008. The Committee notes the Government’s updated information on the implementation of targeted programmes on the federal and territory levels, such as Jobactive and TtW, with a particular focus on the needs of indigenous populations. The Committee notes that in 2020, all Australian governments and the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organizations adopted the National Agreement on Closing the Gap committing to achieve by 2031 four key reform priorities and 16 socioeconomic closing the gap targets, including to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth (15–24 years) in employment, education or training to 67 per cent; and of people aged 25–64 who are employed, to 62 per cent. Finally, the Government refers to the Community Development Programmes (CDP) offered by 46 CDP providers contracted by the Australian Government to deliver a range of employment services to remote job seekers, 83 per cent of which identified as Indigenous Australians, across 60 CDP regions. During the period 1 July 2015 to 31 July 2021, the programme resulted in placing 48,608 persons, of which 14,926 have resulted in the job seeker staying in the job for at least 26 weeks. The ACTU criticizes that CDP workers were not classified as workers, receiving well below the minimum wage and are not covered by the Fair Work Act, are deprived of OSH protections, worker compensation and annual, sick or carer’s or cultural (“Sorry Business”) leave. Furthermore, while the accrual of welfare entitlements is disadvantageous and penalties for infringements are prohibitive, the programme had failed to produce significant employment outcomes and was deemed to be replaced. The Committee requests the Government to respond to the ACTU’s observations regarding the low quality of the CDP jobs, indicating also whether the 2031 objectives are on track and informing about any new initiatives taken to increase sustainable employment opportunities for indigenous peoples in all regions of the country but particularly in the regions where vulnerabilities among the indigenous people are the highest. In addition, the Committee refers to its direct request in which it addresses further categories of workers vulnerable to decent work deficits and exclusion.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners in the formulation and implementation of employment policies. The Government states that all the specific targeted programmes on the federal and territory levels included consultations of the respective stakeholders with the New Employment Services Model. Consultations take place within an Expert Advisory Panel comprised of employer, provider, and welfare group representatives, as well as a labour market economist and an expert in business transformation. Its adoption was preceded by extensive consultations held across Australia with more than 1,400 employers, providers, job seekers, community organizations, unions, think tanks/academia, industry and state and local governments. The ACTU contends that the Government failed to consult it, as the representative of workers, concerning employment policies. While it takes due note of the information provided by the Government as regards consultative processes with the respective stakeholders related to specific targeted measures at the federal and territory levels, the Committee wishes to stress that, pursuant to Article 3 of the Convention, the representatives of employers and workers, need to be consulted concerning the design and implementation of employment policies, with a view to taking fully into account their experience and views and securing their full cooperation in formulating and enlisting support for such policies. At the same time, it recalls that having built-in comprehensive, participative and transparent monitoring and evaluation mechanisms into the national employment policy enables all the parties concerned to identify achievements and challenges in meeting the established policy objectives. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide further information as regards the manner in which the Government associates the social partners to crafting, implementing and monitoring the employment policies at the federal and territory levels.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.