WISE Employment Ltd

Response:

As a national not-for-profit employment services and training provider since 1992, WISE Employment Ltd (WISE) welcomes the establishment of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) as an independent statutory body to provide advice on the skills and training needs of workers and employers now and in the future. In alignment with WISE’s vision to inspire, transform and enable people to realise their potential and its mission to empower people to enrich the community, WISE supports the broadening of JSA’s functions from the previous National Skills Commission (NSC) in identifying labour market and workforce skills and training needs including through partnerships with industry and other key stakeholders.

Community based employment service and training providers have in-depth knowledge of skills and training needs in communities across Australia and provide a range of services and programs to close skills gaps. WISE recommends that not for profit employment service and training providers be represented on the tripartite advisory body to JSA which the Discussion Paper states would “consist of a mix of tripartite representatives from state and territory governments, unions and industry” (Jobs and Skills Australia Discussion Paper, p.9).

Response:

To support the development of programs and strategies that empower community members to develop the skills valued by employers and effectively respond to employer needs, WISE proposes these principles to guide JSA’s priorities and its workplan:
-	Transparency – plans and timelines are widely and regularly communicated.
-	Openness – data and information are freely available to stakeholders and the public.
-	Timeliness – to enable the implementation of responsive measures on the ground, iterative/interim findings and data would be made available.
-	Accessibility – users with varying technical expertise and access needs can engage with JSA and its work.
-	Relevance – priorities and plans are closely targeted to stakeholder needs.

Response:

WISE notes that the Discussion Paper identifies employment services and education and training providers as stakeholders in the JSA Operating Model (diagram, p.7). In addition to representation on the tripartite advisory body, WISE recommends that national not for profit employment service and training providers be consulted in the development and refinement of JSA’s workplan. This reflects their role as key users of JSA’s research and data in developing programs to prepare people for employment and address skills gaps, and their in-depth knowledge of skills deficits in communities across Australia including for long-term unemployed people and other disadvantaged groups.

Response:

WISE including in its role as an RTO (trading as Interskills) advocates for JSA to engage stakeholders who work at the coalface of employment, skills and training in its major studies. Industry representatives must include actual employers, not simply employer associations. This includes representatives of SMEs who are one of the largest group of employers in Australia. Individual RTOs and employment providers must be included, not just peak bodies. For example, in the development of training packages, industry bodies may indicate an assessment requirement (e.g., “must be demonstrated in the workplace”) but when engaging with individual employers to arrange an assessment, it becomes evident that no employer will permit students to demonstrate the skills learnt prior to gaining their qualification (e.g. dealing with mental health issues, engaging with parents, showering clients, etc).

The Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector should also be engaged to provide advice on the implementation of measures to improve identified skills and knowledge. For example, VET providers can indicate the cost and resources required in the setting up of a new course of study (e.g., equipment purchases, facilities, upskilling of trainers, development of training resources and assessment instruments). Funding is linked to nominal hours which can often be out of touch with the reality of the training room, development of practical skills and demonstration of competency.

Response:

WISE has used Australian Government labour market data and research extensively over many years including from the previous Labour Market Information Portal (LMIP) and the Labour Market Insights website. WISE notes that the LMIP was developed specifically to assist employment providers to understand the labour market of the communities where they work. As the Labour Market Insights website is being decommissioned and JSA will have a broader focus than the NSC, WISE is keen to see continued availability of equivalent data and research (along with expanded offerings), as this has been pivotal in developing effective employment and training programs tailored to local communities.

As a national employment provider, labour market data by region is essential, including by smaller geographic areas such as SA2 and LGA along with larger areas such as Employment Region and SA4. Data and research on cohorts such as mature aged, women, CALD, Indigenous, disability, and youth, etc., as well as demographics such as age, sex, education and family characteristics, and across timeframes (e.g. historical and projected) are very useful. Along with information on existing workforce characteristics, projections at a regional level are very useful e.g. estimates of overseas migrant worker arrivals, future local skills gaps. WISE would also like to see more research on underemployment.

Consistency on Mature Age cohort definitions would also assist e.g. caseload data from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) has used 55+ years while in other instances, Mature Age is defined as 45+ years. WISE would also like to advocate for better representation of gender identities in JSA’s work e.g. non-binary.

As a Disability Employment Services (DES) provider, the labour market data by Employment Service Area (ESA) previously available on the LMIP (now discontinued) was extremely valuable (this was in addition to program data e.g. bi-annual DES commencements and caseload currently available on data.gov.au). WISE urges consideration of how data, to inform effective disability employment support, can be made available, including by region, in conjunction with the reform process underway for the disability employment support model.

WISE has found the Local Jobs Plans reports by Employment Region produced by DEWR to be extremely helpful in understanding local labour market characteristics and needs. WISE would like these to continue to be updated. Information and data on industry trends are also very valuable.

Skills shortage and demand information at a smaller regional level than national, state and metropolitan/regional would also be helpful (we note this is available for the Internet Vacancy Index).

WISE would like to see the integration of Government data systems, including those linked to the employment services and VET sectors, to feed into JSA’s studies.

Response:

WISE would like to see JSA proactively engage with VET and employment services stakeholders who may be time-poor to regularly capture their feedback. For other forms of engagement, opportunities not requiring a significant time investment would be appreciated e.g. short surveys or activities. Another example could be regular short webinars on some of JSAs data/research offerings.

Government-managed stakeholders (e.g. TAFE) may be more able to engage in such feedback processes through access to budgets while the participation of privately-run stakeholders is often supplementary to their core business. This can discourage such entities from engaging due to their need to meet primary business goals within tight timeframes and budget constraints. This can result in research being dominated by the viewpoints of Government-managed stakeholders. If JSA is to build evidence that reflects whole-of-industry perspectives, non-government providers need to be separately engaged in a meaningful manner suiting their needs. While the Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA) can provide a consensus of viewpoints of independent providers, it is also very important to consult a range of individual providers to identify differing ideas and viewpoints.

Response:

To increase the use of JSA’s products by employment service and training providers, WISE suggests that JSA could offer more tailored mixed-mode training on how to use its data and research in developing skills and training strategies and programs to meet the needs of industry. JSA should also consider the use of newer commonly-used technologies such as mobile device apps.

Response:

A single repository of data and research with a web-based interface is preferred by WISE so that information can be easily located as required and staff do not need to be trained in multiple systems. New websites and sources for every project become difficult for users to track. 

Presentation of information should focus on accessibility and usability e.g. less graphic design, more white space, contrast for readability, printer and screen-reader friendly documents e.g. PDF and text-based such as Microsoft Word.

WISE emphasises the benefit of access to raw data to drill down into and download e.g. the ‘Labour Market Maps and Analytics Dashboard’ provided by JSA is very useful but downloadable data would increase its utility. This also applies to research reports and studies. Supporting data, if available, can add much value to high-level results and analysis. This assists providers to develop evidence-based strategies, programs and services tailored to local needs.

For ease of data access and use, WISE prefers using an API. Availability of data in Excel formats to download is also crucial for access by a range of staff with varying technical expertise.

Response:

WISE notes that the Operating Model on p.7 of the Discussion Paper outlines the intention that JSA’s work will shape Australia’s Employment Programs and Education and Training Delivery. WISE would like to suggest that JSA, as part of this, could have a role in providing independent information on the outcomes and effectiveness of Government-funded employment service and training programs. Providing an independent evaluation of such programs and initiatives, with an emphasis on evidence-based data and being removed from perceived policy or government bias, would give clearer and more prompt indications of the effectiveness of such programs. As an independent body, JSA could assist with building evidence of what works in developing appropriate labour market skills in the community. Examples are the Employment Services Outcome reports which were published for jobactive (and prior program). WISE would like similar reports to continue to be available for WorkForce Australia, DES and other Government-funded employment and training programs.