Pre-employment

29. Jobseekers experiencing family violence face multiple barriers to work, which may range from partners’ active interference with the job search process to lack of housing or transportation when attempting to leave a relationship. If jobseekers experiencing family violence are to be able to access the financial and emotional benefits of employment, job search assistance programs need to effectively identify and address these barriers.

30. Like all jobseekers, victims of family violence seeking employment may use JSA, the Australian Government’s national employment services system, which was previously known as Job Network. JSA places jobseekers with JSA providers—private and community organisations that provide job search assistance. The Indigenous Employment Program also provides some services for Indigenous jobseekers.^[17]

31. The job search assistance process begins with an evaluation of a jobseeker’s barriers to work. The evaluation is conducted using a questionnaire called the Job Seeker Classification Instrument (JSCI) and sometimes an additional assessment called the Job Capacity Assessment (JCA), both of which are discussed in more detail below. Based on the results of the evaluation, applicants are classified as being in one of four ‘streams’: the least disadvantaged jobseekers are categorised as Stream 1, while successively more disadvantaged applicants are placed in Stream 2, Stream 3 or Stream 4, respectively.

32. The stream into which a jobseeker experiencing family violence is placed affects how much and what type of assistance he or she will receive. Jobseekers in higher streams may qualify for more individualised assistance from JSA providers, more funding for short-term health services, and more extensive work preparation and training.^[18] JSA providers may also receive more money for placing higher-stream applicants in jobs, potentially increasing the provider’s financial incentive to place such applicants.

Job Seeker Classification Instrument

33. Applicants are usually assessed for readiness to work by Centrelink employees using the JSCI, which the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) revised in 2008–09.^[19] JCAs may be administered where the JSCI ‘indicate[s] a potential need for the most intensive Job Services Australia assistance’.^[20]

34. In the JSCI, applicants are assigned points where their answers indicate factors that correlate with disadvantage in the labour market. The total score is designed to reflect how disadvantaged a jobseeker is in the labour market: a higher score should reflect a greater level of disadvantage.

35. For example, a jobseeker is assigned two points for having poor English proficiency, three points for living in temporary accommodation, four points for being unemployed, and up to twelve points for being on income support for over two years or living in certain remote Indigenous locations.^[21] Jobseekers are classified as Stream 1 if they have fewer than 19 points, Stream 2 if they have 20–28 points, and Stream 3 if they have more than 29 points. Entry to Stream 4 is based on a JCA, discussed in more detail below.

36. Three aspects of the JSCI are relevant to jobseekers experiencing family violence. These are:

• the administration of the JSCI, which may prevent victims from feeling comfortable enough to disclose family violence;

• the content of the JSCI, which, even where family violence is disclosed, may inadequately recognise the extent to which experience of family violence is a barrier to employment; and

• the JCA referral process.

Administration of the JSCI

37. During the 2008–09 DEEWR review process, several organisations expressed concern that the way in which the JSCI is administered impedes the identification of sensitive issues like family violence. Criticisms included the following:

• many JSCIs are conducted over the phone, a forum that may discourage people from sharing sensitive information, and even face-to-face job assessments may be conducted in public areas;

• the JSCI is premised on self-disclosure, but full disclosure is unrealistic when jobseekers are in a first interview with a government agency, particularly when they are discussing sensitive topics;

• jobseekers receiving government benefits may withhold relevant information because they mistakenly believe that disclosing it in the job search process will reduce their benefits;

• jobseekers may complete the JSCI in the presence of partners, affecting disclosure of family violence; and

• if sensitive information is not initially revealed, the process of updating the JSCI may be lengthy, leaving a jobseeker ‘in limbo’.^[22]

38. The revised JSCI includes wording and sequencing changes designed to highlight the importance of full disclosure and make jobseekers more comfortable disclosing sensitive information. To compensate for nondisclosure, the revised JSCI allocates jobseekers one point for not answering certain voluntary questions and one point for having received a Centrelink Crisis Payment in the previous six months.^[23]

39. These revisions may address some of the concerns raised in the 2008–09 review. Other concerns—such as the increasing use of phones to conduct interviews—were recognised by DEEWR, but not adopted.^[24] The ALRC is interested in comment about whether these reforms have encouraged greater disclosure of information about family violence since their implementation.

Content of the JSCI

40. The JSCI collects 18 categories of information, including:

• age and gender;

• recency of work experience;

• vocational qualifications;

• Indigenous status;

• access to transport;

• disability/medical conditions;

• stability of residence;

• phone contactability;

• proximity to a labour market; and

• personal characteristics.^[25]

41. Because jobseekers experiencing family violence may, for example, have an unstable residence or difficulty accessing transport, some of these factors may indirectly account for ways in which they are disadvantaged.

42. Information about family violence is not collected as a separate category of information, but it may be asked about as one aspect of a jobseeker’s ‘personal characteristics’. The ALRC is uncertain about how this works in practice, in particular:

• how often applicants are asked about family violence;

• how questions about family violence are asked or phrased;

• how much discretion the JSCI administrator has in raising (or avoiding) the subject of family violence; and

• the practical effect of disclosing family violence in the JSCI interview.

43. The ALRC welcomes comment on these issues or any other aspect of the JSCI relevant to addressing the needs of jobseekers experiencing family violence.

JCA referrals

44. Applicants are referred for a JCA where the results of the JSCI indicate ‘significant barriers to work’.^[26] JCAs aim to provide

comprehensive work capacity assessment, combining referral to employment and related support services … with assessment of work capacity for income support purposes^[27]

45. Approximately 50% of JCAs relate to employment service referrals, while the remainder are administered to inform Centrelink about social security payments and exemptions.^[28]

46. JCAs are conducted by health professionals, such as registered psychologists or rehabilitation counsellors,^[29] and provide a ‘more comprehensive assessment of [jobseekers’] barriers and needs’.^[30]

47. JCAs may also result in jobseekers being referred for Job Capacity Account services, which are funds allocated to purchase short-term health services for jobseekers who need such assistance to become ready for work.^[31] As of 2007–08, most referrals for Job Capacity Account services were for counselling.^[32]

48. Some jobseekers experiencing family violence may be referred for JCAs based on characteristics other than their experience of family violence. For example, jobseekers will be referred for JCAs where they state they are only capable of working less than 30 hours per week or where they have received a Centrelink Crisis Payment in the previous six months.^[33]

49. Even in the absence of such characteristics, a jobseeker’s disclosure of family violence may be—but apparently is not always—considered a significant barrier to work, automatically leading to a JCA.^[34] The ALRC welcomes comment on how a JSCI administrator determines whether family violence is a ‘significant barrier’.