Amanda Rishworth says jobseekers will no longer be forced to submit ‘endless’ pointless job applications | Australian politics

Mutual obligations will be different for each benefit recipient, Labor Minister Amanda Rishworth has said, signaling the end of jobseekers being forced to submit “endless” applications for roles for which they are not qualified.

But welfare advocates and a major union said Labour’s changes to the employment system did not go far enough and fell short of the reform needed for the failure-plagued sector; They called for an end to the privatized business services model, which Rishworth admitted did not provide enough help.

Rishworth’s speech to the National Press Club outlined a major overhaul of the employment services system, with the current “one size fits all” model split into three separate streams depending on the job seeker’s skill level and job readiness:

• At the lower level, a digital service with “individualized resources and brief interventions” for people who are ready to work but need help finding suitable work;

• a “targeted provider-led” stream to help people develop the skills and confidence to gain employment;

• and, at the higher end, more intensive services for people with complex needs who will be given more time, flexibility and support to develop their confidence and abilities.

He said the unemployed were “running out” of inadequate benefits, in part because the current system encouraged job providers to ignore people with more complex needs in favor of people who were easier to place. Rishworth criticized the fact that one in five people using the Workforce Australia program (about 140,000 people) have been in the stream for five years or more, and that the figure is getting worse.

But the privatized model, which Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne said would lead to jobseekers being “dragged into a failing system”, will continue.

“These reforms are not a jolt, they are a mess,” he said.

“Labour’s inquiry into employment services in 2023 concluded that privatization had failed and ‘fundamental change is needed’. Reforms show Labor has not read its own report.”

Allman-Payne, who found that the social assistance payments of approximately 1,000 people were unlawfully terminated, according to the Commonwealth ombudsman report dated 2025, also criticized the government’s failure to announce plans to reform this system.

Exact details of the new system were not revealed on Wednesday and will be developed next year in a process of consultation with employers, job seekers and service providers. However, Rishworth signaled a change in mutual obligation activities; He said this wasted the time of people receiving benefits.

Guardian Australia has reported numerous examples of the reciprocal obligations system being unfair or cruel to users, or forcing people to complete mundane tasks. These included people having Centrelink payments suspended while they were in hospital recovering from brain surgery or recovering from psychosis, and job training courses described as “dismissive”.

While mutual obligations will remain, Rishworth said activities must be “meaningful” and may vary depending on the individual’s circumstances.

“If you are close to the labor market, applying for jobs for jobs that interest you and are in your target plan is clearly a suitable activity. If you are very far from the labor market and do not have job-ready skills, there is no point in that participant applying endlessly,” the minister said.

Rishworth gave the example of disability employment service Inclusive Employment Australia, which has changed accommodation action to a “last resort”.

“I don’t believe people are going into the system and searching on purpose. [at] “How not to get involved and how not to contribute, but we need to make those mutual obligations meaningful to actually get a job,” he said.

The Community and Public Sector Union welcomed the changes, but national secretary Melissa Donnelly was “disappointed that it does not go further to overhaul the privatized model that is failing jobseekers, employers and the government.”

“Australian job seekers are tired of being lectured by flamboyant ‘entrepreneurs’ who milk the government of hundreds of millions of dollars and deliver a corrupt, profit-driven service in return,” he said.

“This privatization extravaganza has caused untold damage, and while today’s announcement is welcome, progress must not stop here.”

Economic Justice Australia, which is part of the working group that will consult on the changes, also said changes were needed to the privatized model.

“When privatized employment service providers are given the power to deny people essential payments, not only will there always be an imbalance of power, but there will be a direct threat to people’s ability to survive,” said Kate Allingham, the company’s chief executive.