September 8, 2014
Mission Australia has been appointed the Work for the Dole co-ordinator for the Fraser Coast / Burnett area.
Federal Member for Wide Bay, Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, Member for Flynn Ken O’Dowd and Member for Hinkler Keith Pitt made the announcement recently.
The Federal Government is currently rolling out new Work for the Dole arrangements for job seekers aged 18-30 in 18 selected areas across Australia.
Fraser Coast / Burnett is one of these initial areas.
Mission Australia will be the first point of contact for organisations in these areas wishing to offer places to eligible job seekers.
The program will move to a full national scheme on July 1 next year.
“The Work for the Dole program helps people to transition from welfare to work by giving young people the experience they need to make them job ready,” Mr Truss said.
“The program encourages participants to demonstrate the qualities and attributes that employers look for, and will help them to become productive and valued employees.
“While the Work for the Dole program will complement and enhance the work that is done by the host employer, it will not be a substitute for their paid employees. The scheme will deliver projects in the area that otherwise would not have happened.
“I congratulate Mission Australia on their selection, and look forward to the expansion of the Work for the Dole program to other parts of Wide Bay.”
NB. The defined area for this initial scheme only touches on the South Burnett area (see map below):
This is great news! I have just looked at the Mission Australia website and can’t see a centre any closer to the Kingaroy area than Gayndah. Would this be the appropriate centre to contact if a non-profit organisation was interested in securing someone regarding the Work for Dole scheme?
Hi Jules – at the moment, most of the South Burnett is not covered by this program which is still being rolled out. We don’t believe that a provider has been determined yet for the Kingaroy area, although South Burnett CTC does have some work-for-the-dole programs operating here.
Any not for profit organisation in the South Burnett is more than welcome to contact South Burnett CTC in regard to Work for the Dole and will be connected as appropriate. There is a lot of confusion around currently about regions and roles of providers, but local Jobs Services Australia providers like CTC can assist with information.
I don’t believe this is the appropriate approach to the unemployed. Because It’s not going to help them gain employment, let alone seek employment. I just don’t think it’s going to provide a solution for the unemployed other than increasing their skills and knowledge. I just see this as a “quick fix” for the Government. It won’t last the whole period they want it implemented. But, by all means there is no harm in giving it a try to determine whether it will work or not.
As with most governmental employment schemes their designed to create the appearance of tough medicine equals employment for public consumption, but the underlying reality is job availability. We now live in a disposable security, driven by availability of products mostly imported for domestic consumption whilst Australian manufacturing languishes under unfavorable trading conditions. For any country, the strength of that country is its manufacturing and the skills provided that can not be replicated with government schemes designed to mimic menial tasks in today’s modern society. The skills needed to take this country forward dictate a leveling of the playing field to nurture Australian manufacturing and rural-derived industry not only creating jobs but the skills and innovation necessary to propel this country into the future. The political banshee wailing of tough on unemployment and the schemes associated have failed dismally decade after decade to achieve any lasting change to employment prospects and future production in this country.