In the Communiqué emerging from the 2014 SVA Employment Dialogue, six principles have been identified as critical to solving Australia’s long-term unemployment challenge.
The Employment Dialogue, held by Social Ventures Australia, Mission Australia and Brotherhood of St Laurence, sought the insights of leaders across government, business and the social purpose sector, looking specifically at innovative approaches to tackling long-term unemployment in a changing job market.
Currently only around 7 per cent of employers use the government funded employment system, meaning large numbers of entry-level jobs and career paths are inaccessible for disadvantaged jobseekers. At the same time 41 per cent employers report difficulties filling jobs.
Kevin Robbie, Executive Director of Employment at SVA commented:
“We need to look seriously at systems change if we are to see real and lasting progress in enabling people to have the opportunity and skills to participate in meaningful employment. We hope the ideas developed from the Employment Dialogue will inspire new practice and energise new partnerships to this end.”
The Employment Dialogue identified six principles that will be critical in designing a system that creates sustainable employment for people in a rapidly changing environment. Those six principles are:
- A specialist approach for young people with complex needs
- Better, earlier and more comprehensive careers education
- Connecting education and training to sustainable jobs
- Scaling effective cross-sector collaborations and partnerships
- Creating local solutions with national employers
- Local solutions for local communities
The Employment Dialogue Communiqué explores each principal in detail and provides examples of innovative approaches that are supported by case studies of creative best practice.