Mutual obligations should be scrapped

Mutual obligations is a punitive system introduced by the LNP government in their dying days as a final swipe at Australia’s most vulnerable.

Under the system, jobseekers must complete a range of tasks each month – such as job applications, education or training, or other personal development activities – to meet their requirements.

The various tasks are worth a set number of “points” and if the jobseeker does not hit their points target, their welfare payments are temporarily suspended.

The tasks set by mutual obligations are counter-productive to jobseeking efforts, and are set up to cause the jobseeker to fail to meet their obligations. The emphasis is on compliance with a range of sometimes impossible tasks.

Much of the jobseeker’s time is taken up with meeting these compliance requirements rather than actually being able to look for work.

It is also putting a strain on job agencies who have to administer the scheme, and employers who are receiving hundreds of job applications from people who are not suitable for the jobs being advertised.

From the point of view of job agencies, they are spending most of their time ensuring that jobseekers comply with Centrelink’s requirements. This was previously a task that Centrelink performed.

This means they have less time to actually help people look for work. The fact that they are required to ensure compliance also means that mistakes are made, and people often lose their Centrelink payments because of these mistakes.

Instead, many job agencies have found a new money-making venture by referring jobseekers to “training programs” that the employment agencies themselves run.

These training programs are paid for by the government, and have provided a multi-billion dollar cash boost to the employment agencies.

It has also meant that employment agencies generally do not have the time or resources to help find employment for those in employment who are seeking better jobs or higher wages. All their time is taken up doing what should be Centrelink’s work.

For employers, it has created a nightmare. A single job advertisement can mean that a potential employer receives a thousand or more applications, often from people who are unsuitable for the job.

It is impossible to sort through so many resumes, and often the task is left to the employment agencies. The employment agencies usually do not read the resumes, as they are too busy breaching jobseekers for non-compliance with their mutal obligations.

The general practice is for the job agencies to scan the resumes using AI programs to search for keywords, and identify potential employees based on this alone. This means the most suitable applicants rarely get a foot in the door, and less suitable applicants get the interviews.

The impacts on productivity for the employers is huge, with most having to readvertise the jobs multiple times because of the failures of the job agencies or their own overworked human resource departments.

For the jobseeker, it means they are dedicating most of their time applying for jobs they have no chance of getting, enrolling in training courses that will not benefit them, or taking on jobs they are not suited to.

In many cases, they are forced to work for free on the work-for-the-dole scheme, or work in jobs below award wages with poor work conditions.

The job agencies have hit back at the scheme, with most calling for it to be abolished. Many of the agencies have also called for the work-for-the-dole scheme to be abolished as well.

Employer groups have also mcalled for both schemes to be abolished. So, too, have welfare organisations.

The federal government have indicated that they are open to these suggestions, but will wait until an investigation into the schemes are completed in September before they make a decision.

It is clear that all stakeholders believe the scheme is inadequate and counter-productive. It is not only punishing Australia’s most vulnerable, but it is also affecting the productivity of nearly every business and organisation in Australia.

An interim solution would be to suspend the mutual obligations scheme immediately, pending the outcome of the investigation in September.

It is a broken system, and the government must act immediately to fix it.

Craig Hill is a Brisbane-based Social Justice Campaigner, Writer, Teacher and Business Consultant. He has campaigned for social justice in Australia, promoted human rights in China and worked with the homeless in Honolulu. He holds a Graduate Certificate in Education and a degree in Management.