Labour Market 
Assistance Outcomes
Year ending September 2005	
This report contains information about placements, commencements and post labour market assistance outcomes achieved for employment services managed by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
Main features
Outcomes	
The positive outcomes (employment and/or education/training) rates achieved in the year ending September 2005, three months after leaving assistance were:
•	75% for Job Placement;
•	63% for Intensive Support job search training;
•	54% for Intensive Support customised assistance;
•	56% for Intensive Support;
•	85% for New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS);
•	42% for Work for the Dole;
•	44% for Community Work Placements;
•	70% for Indigenous Employment Programme Structured Training and Employment Projects (STEP);
•	71% for Indigenous Employment Programme Wage Assistance;
•	59% for Indigenous Employment Centres; and
•	57% for Transition to Work.	

Job Vacancies	
In the year to end September 2005, 2,346,600 vacancies were notified on the Australian Job Search database, of which over 1,007,500 were lodged by Job Network Members or Job Placement Organisations (including vacancies lodged through the Internet and Teleservicing).	

Job Placements	
In the year to end September 2005, around 663,200 Job Network eligible job seekers were placed into Job Placement vacancies by Job Network Members or Job Placement Organisations.	

Commencements	
In the year to 30 September 2005, commencements in the various types of labour market assistance included:
•	502,800 in Job Search Support;
•	375,000 in Intensive Support;
•	6,400 in NEIS;
•	6,200 in the STEP and Wage Assistance elements of the Indigenous Employment Programme;
•	2,800 in Indigenous Employment Centres;
•	82,700 in Work for the Dole; 
•	3,600 in Community Work Placement; and
•	11,100 in Transition to Work.	

Income Support	
In the year to end September 2005, the number of job seekers in receipt of Newstart or Youth Allowance (Other) decreased by around 28,200 to just over 558,300 job seekers.  The number of job seekers who were long-term recipients (ie on allowances for 12 months or more) decreased by over 21,400 to around 328,400 while the number of short-term recipients decreased by almost 6,800 to just around 229,900.	

In this issue	
Changes to the Employment Services Market 	Page 3
In this report… 	Page 3
Section 1: Labour Market Assistance Outcomes	Page 4
Table 1.1 Post assistance labour market outcomes year to end September 2005	Page 4
Table 1.2 Post assistance employment and positive outcomes year to end September 2005	Page 5
Table 1.3 Intensive Support: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 2005 	Page 6
Table 1.4 Intensive Support customised assistance: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 2005	Page 7
Table 1.5 Intensive Support job search training: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 2005	Page 8
Table 1.6 Job Placement: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 2005	Page 9
Table 1.7 New Enterprise Incentive Scheme: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 2005	Page 10
Table 1.8 Work for the Dole: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 2005	Page 11
Section 2: Trends in outcomes for Labour Market Assistance 	Page 12
Figure 2.1 Trends in outcomes for employment services 2000 – 2005	Page 12
Figure 2.2 NEIS commencements over time	Page 13
Figure 2.3 NEIS commencements over time by Industry	Page 13
Figure 2.4 Self-smployment outcomes by selected business types (1998 – 2005)	Page 14
Section 3: Access to and Participation in Labour Market Assistance	Page 15
Table 3.1 Participation by type of labour market assistance in each of the past two years	Page 15
Table 3.2 Participation in Job Network assistance by job seeker characteristics: September 2005	Page 16
Table 3.3 AJS Vacancies and Job Placements by industry and ASCO codes: September 2005	Page 17
Table 3.4 Access to NEIS by job seeker characteristics year to end September 2005	Page 18
Table 3.5 Access to Work for the Dole by job seeker characteristics year to end September 2005	Page 19
Section 4: Participation and Outcomes by Region	Page 20
Table 4.1 Commencements in labour market assistance by region: September 2005	Page 20
Table 4.2 Job Placements by region: September 2005	Page 21
Table 4.3 Regional labour market post assistance employment outcomes year to end September 2005 	Page 22
Section 5: Impact on Income Support Recipients	Page 23
Figure 5.1 Number of income support recipients 	Page 23
Figure 5.2 Three and six month off-benefit status of job seekers following assistance 	Page 24
Technical Notes	Page 25	
Time periods used in this report	
The Department’s Post Programme Monitoring (PPM) Survey measures outcomes achieved by job seekers three months after they exit labour market assistance.  This report contains outcomes data for job seekers who exited assistance in the 12 months to 30 June 2005 and their post assistance outcomes achieved by 30 September 2005.  
Intensive Support post assistance outcomes should not be confused with paid interim or paid final outcomes.  Post assistance outcomes are all employment and education outcomes while paid outcomes relate to a subset of employment and education outcomes where Job Network members receive payment for outcomes. 
Commencement and placement data, derived from DEWR and Centrelink administrative systems, relate to job seekers who were placed in a job or commenced labour market assistance between 1 October 2004 and 30 September 2005 and 1 October 2003 and 30 September 2004.  	
	
More information……	
For further information, please contact Michael Cameron (02) 6121 7240 or e-mail sarah.crooks@dewr.gov.au.

© Commonwealth of Australia

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth available from Aus Info.  Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Legislative Services, AusInfo, GPO Box 1920, Canberra ACT 2601.

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations 
http://www.workplace.gov.au/	

Changes to the Employment Services Market

The Active Participation Model
On 1 July 2003, significant changes were introduced to the employment services market.  The Active Participation Model (announced in the 2002–03 Budget) provides on-going customised service to job seekers and has a number of innovative features, such as a Job Seeker Account to fund preparation of job seekers for work. 
Participation in the Active Participation Model
On registration with Centrelink, each eligible job seeker is referred to a single Job Network member who will provide services to them while they remain eligible for assistance.  Two services are delivered by all Job Network members under the Active Participation Model:
•	Job Search Support; and
•	Intensive Support.
Job Search Support services are available to all eligible job seekers immediately upon registration by Centrelink or a Job Network member and continue until the job seeker leaves employment services.  On first contact with their Job Network member, job seekers have their vocational profile entered into the JobSearch database for daily matching against new job vacancies.  Job seekers also have access to a range of other job search facilities such as touchscreens, computers and faxes as well as assistance in the preparation of job applications.
If an eligible job seeker has not found work within the first three months of Job Search Support, their Job Network member will arrange for them to participate in Intensive Support.  Job search training is the first element of Intensive Support.  It assists job seekers to obtain employment through individually tailored assistance that is designed to improve their job search skills, confidence and expand their job search networks.
After six months of unemployment (and periodically thereafter), most activity-tested job seekers will be required to fulfil a Mutual Obligation requirement.  During these periods, job seekers will remain in Intensive Support and it will be the responsibility of their Job Network member to ensure that they continue to be actively engaged in job search activities and improving their job prospects.  
Job seekers who have been unemployed for at least 12 months or are identified by Centrelink as being highly disadvantaged at registration will receive Intensive Support customised assistance.  Over a six month period this service provides customised assistance to address individual barriers to employment and tailor the job seeker’s efforts in looking for work.  In Intensive Support customised assistance, a job seeker’s Job Network member will have up to $1,350 credited to their Job Seeker Account for the purchase of services and products to assist them to find employment.
Results for Active Participation Model assistance
Results for the employment services provided under the Active Participation Model have progressively become available.  Reliable outcomes estimates cannot be produced until a sufficient number of clients have received assistance and subsequently been surveyed.  Results for Job Placement and Intensive Support job search training have been published onwards from the June 2004 edition Labour Market Assistance Outcomes.  Intensive Support customised assistance outcome results have been published in reports from September 2004 with outcomes for the Intensive Support stream of assistance reported since the December 2004 edition of Labour Market Assistance Outcomes.  

In this report….

An analysis on the NEIS programme is provided in this report.  The analysis focuses on the industry types of small businesses set-up under NEIS, how it has changed over time.  In addition, the relative performance of selected industry types for small businesses set up under NEIS is also assessed.  
The figures in relation to job seekers’ educational attainment in this report have been updated as of August 2006 to correct for a minor computational error.  

Section 1: Labour Market Assistance Outcomes

Post assistance labour market outcomes
Table 1.1 shows labour market outcomes and further assistance levels of all job seekers three months after leaving the various types of employment assistance.  
Employment outcomes under the Intensive Support stream of assistance continues’ to rise.  Over the last three quarters, employment outcomes have increased by over two percentage points.  This highlights the success of the assistance in helping job seekers into jobs.  
Job seekers are categorised as employed, unemployed or not in the labour force.  A proportion of these clients are also recorded as being in further assistance.
In editions of Labour Market Assistance Outcomes pre-June 2004, employment, unemployment, not in the labour force and further assistance outcomes were recorded as being mutually exclusive outcomes (ie. they added up to 100%).
As jobseekers are continuously in assistance under the Active Participation Model, clients in further assistance are surveyed and their responses are used to determine their labour market status. 
Care should also be taken when comparing outcomes for current services with labour market programmes operating before the introduction of Job Network.  The Technical Notes at the end of this report discuss these issues further.  

Table 1.1: Post assistance1 labour market outcomes year to end September 2005

Labour market assistance	
Employed
(%)	
Unemployed
(%)	Not in the Labour Force
(%)	Further Assistance2
(%)	
Exits
(number)	
Job Placement	70.9	23.9	5.2	na	103,550	
Fully Job Network eligible (FJNE)	66.5	28.0	5.5	na	59,930	
Job Search Support Only (JSSO)	77.4	17.8	4.8	na	43,620	
Intensive Support	48.4	42.4	9.2	2.3	447,573	
Intensive Support job search training	53.2	40.2	6.6	3.3	157,052	
Intensive Support customised assistance	45.2	44.1	10.7	8.3	289,711	
Non highly-disadvantaged	50.3	41.3	8.4	9.3	161,524	
Highly disadvantaged	38.6	47.7	13.7	7.1	128,187	
NEIS	83.3	11.3	5.4	2.1	6,390	
Work for the Dole	33.3	56.8	9.9	37.3	83,218	
Community Work	32.9	56.2	10.9	48.1	4,490	
IEP – STEP	58.6	33.0	8.3	13.6	4,080	
IEP - Wage Assistance	68.6	25.7	5.7	23.6	2,849	
Indigenous Employment Centres	49.3	38.5	12.2	37.8	2,631	
Transition to Work	36.3	39.5	24.1	10.1	13,682	

1.	Post assistance outcomes are measured three months after the job seeker ceases assistance and relate to job seekers who were in-scope for inclusion in the Intensive Support sample and job seekers who ceased Intensive Support customised assistance, Intensive Support job search training, New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS), Work for the Dole, Community Work, Transition to Work, Indigenous Employment Programme (IEP), Structured Training and Employment Projects (STEP), IEP Wage Assistance or Indigenous Employment Centres or achieved an eligible Job Network placement between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005.  Employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.
2.	Further assistance includes commencements in DEWR funded labour market assistance.  Job seekers who do not achieve an employment outcome are treated as either unemployed or not in the labour force. 

Source: The Post Programme Monitoring Survey conducted three months after job seekers cease assistance.

Post assistance employment and positive outcomes
Table 1.2 shows job seekers’ shares of full-time and part-time employment, education/training and positive outcomes three months after leaving different types of labour market assistance.
Education and training outcomes include job seekers who are studying at a secondary school or college, TAFE, business college or university three months after ceasing labour market assistance. 
Positive outcome rates for clients assisted in the Intensive Support customised assistance phase of assistance continues to improve.  In particular, positive outcome rates for those clients identified as Highly Disadvantaged have increased by around three percentage points in the last year.  Currently just on half of these clients are either employed or in education three months after completing their period of customised assistance.  
Similarly, post-assistance outcome levels for Work for the Dole clients have continued to increase.  Positive outcome rates have rise by one percentage point in the last year and by almost twelve percentage points since the introduction of the Active Participation Model.  

Table 1.2: Post assistance1 employment and positive outcomes year to end September 2005

Labour market assistance	Full-time Employed
(%)	Part-time Employed
(%)	Total
Employed
(%)	Education & Training
(%)	Positive Outcomes2
(%)	
Exits
(number)	
Job Placement	45.2	25.7	70.9	12.9	74.6	103,550	
Fully Job Network eligible (FJNE)	41.6	24.9	66.5	12.5	70.5	59,930	
Job Search Support Only (JSSO)	50.5	26.9	77.4	13.6	80.7	43,620	
Intensive Support	20.4	27.9	48.4	12.4	56.4	447,573	
Intensive Support job search training	24.9	28.3	53.2	15.1	62.5	157,052	
Intensive Support customised assistance	16.5	28.8	45.2	11.9	54.3	289,711	
Non highly-disadvantaged	18.4	31.9	50.3	11.2	58.2	161,524	
Highly disadvantaged	13.9	24.7	38.6	12.9	49.1	128,187	
NEIS	50.1	33.2	83.3	9.0	85.3	6,390	
Work for the Dole	15.9	17.4	33.3	11.9	42.3	83,218	
Community Work	10.9	22.0	32.9	15.6	44.4	4,490	
IEP - STEP	41.0	17.7	58.6	26.5	70.0	4,080	
IEP - Wage Assistance	50.8	17.8	68.6	22.6	71.1	2,849	
Indigenous Employment Centres	34.7	14.6	49.3	22.5	58.6	2,631	
Transition to Work	5.9	30.4	36.3	28.7	57.0	13,682	

1.	Post assistance outcomes are measured three months after the job seeker ceases assistance and relate to job seekers who were in-scope for inclusion in the Intensive Support sample and job seekers who ceased Intensive Support customised assistance, Intensive Support job search training, New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS), Work for the Dole, Community Work, Transition to Work, Indigenous Employment Programme (IEP), Structured Training and Employment Projects (STEP), IEP Wage Assistance or Indigenous Employment Centres or achieved an eligible Job Network placement between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005.  
2.	Positive outcomes include employment and education/training outcomes.  Positive outcomes are less than the sum of employment and education/training outcomes because some job seekers achieve both an employment and an education outcome.  Positive and employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.

Source: The Post Programme Monitoring Survey conducted three months after job seekers cease assistance.

Intensive Support
Table 1.3 reports the post assistance outcomes achieved by the in-scope population for Intensive Support, who commenced assistance between 1 July 2003 and 30 June 2004 and became in-scope for survey between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved three months later, up to 30 September 2005.  

The in-scope population includes: those who exited Intensive Support; began a payable outcome period; or reached twelve months of participation in APM in the twelve months to 30 June 2005.  See technical notes at the end of this report for further information on the in-scope population.
Overall, over half of the participants are in employment and/or education three months after their labour market status is measured. 

Table 1.3: Intensive Support: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 20051
	Employment	Education& Training
(%)	Positive Outcomes2
(%)	In-scope population3
(number)	

Job seeker characteristics	
Full-time
(%)	
Part-time
(%)	Total Employed
(%)				
Age Group (years)							
15 to 20	25.1	26.0	51.1	16.4	60.4	80,375	
21 to 24	26.6	28.1	54.7	15.6	63.6	68,783	
25 to 34	24.0	27.4	51.5	12.5	59.2	103,956	
35 to 49	18.4	29.4	47.8	12.1	56.1	127,736	
50 or more	13.8	27.2	41.0	9.0	47.7	66,723	
Duration on income support (months) 						
0 to less than 6	28.1	28.2	56.4	13.1	64.2	201,377	
6 to less than 12	19.4	28.7	48.1	14.0	57.2	40,089	
12 to less than 24	16.4	28.4	44.8	12.7	53.3	53,825	
24 to less than 36	14.0	28.0	42.0	11.2	49.8	32,137	
36 or more	9.3	27.0	36.3	10.6	44.2	95,300	
Educational attainment 							
Less than Year 10	13.0	23.2	36.2	8.7	43.2	81,335	
Year 10 or 11	18.5	27.1	45.6	9.4	52.0	150,522	
Year 12	23.4	30.0	53.4	17.1	63.8	82,233	
Post Secondary	25.8	30.3	56.2	15.1	65.1	115,981	
Unknown	18.5	28.5	47.0	13.7	55.7	17,502	
Gender							
Males	22.8	23.1	46.0	9.7	52.6	289,164	
Females	16.7	35.4	52.1	16.7	62.3	158,409	
Equity Groups4							
Disability	11.3	25.2	36.4	11.0	44.6	37,899	
Indigenous	16.2	17.3	33.5	10.0	40.2	35,032	
CALD5	17.7	24.7	42.5	17.9	56.5	72,326	
Sole Parents	13.2	37.3	50.6	16.0	60.9	20,731	
Total	20.4	27.9	48.4	12.4	56.4	447,573	
1.	Job seekers who commenced Intensive Support between 1 July 2003 and 30 June 2004 and left Intensive Support or were receiving Intensive Support assistance for 12 months between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved by 30 September 2005.  The commencement period is limited to ensure that only those participants that could have reached 12 months participation in Intensive Support are included in the in-scope sample.
2.	Positive outcomes include employment and education/training outcomes. Positive outcomes are less than the sum of employment and education/training outcomes because some job seekers achieve both an employment and an education/training outcome. Positive and employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.
3.	See the technical notes at the end of the report for a definition of the in-scope population.  
4.	Equity groups are not mutually exclusive.
5.	People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds from other than main English Speaking countries.
Source: The Post Programme Monitoring Survey conducted three months after job seekers cease assistance.

Intensive Support customised assistance
Table 1.4 shows the post assistance outcomes achieved by those who left Intensive Support customised assistance between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved three months later, up to 30 September 2005.  
Outcomes for Indigenous job seekers assisted under the Intensive Support customised assistance phase have increased by two percentage points over the last year.  More broadly, outcomes for the department’s key target groups are at least comparable if not higher than the outcomes achieved for the same types of clients under Intensive Assistance.

Table 1.4: Intensive Support customised assistance: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 20051
	Employment	Education& Training
(%)	Positive Outcomes2
(%)	Exits
(number)	

Job seeker characteristics	
Full-time
(%)	
Part-time
(%)	Total Employed
(%)				
Disadvantage status							
Non-highly disadvantaged3	18.4	31.9	50.3	11.2	58.2	161,524	
Highly disadvantaged4	13.9	24.7	38.6	12.9	49.1	128,187	
Age Group (years)							
15 to 20	20.2	25.2	45.4	15.6	57.1	51,865	
21 to 24	20.1	29.5	49.6	16.3	61.4	37,409	
25 to 34	19.2	28.2	47.4	12.7	56.7	60,882	
35 to 49	16.1	31.5	47.5	11.8	56.4	83,861	
50 or more	11.3	28.1	39.4	8.9	46.5	55,694	
Duration on income support (months) 		
0 to less than 6	22.4	25.9	48.3	13.4	58.4	69,533	
6 to less than 12	20.5	31.9	52.4	13.6	62.1	42167	
12 to less than 24	16.4	28.2	44.6	13.5	54.9	59,445	
24 to less than 36	15.1	28.9	44.1	12.0	53.0	33,673	
36 or more	11.2	28.0	39.2	10.6	47.5	107,653	
Educational attainment 							
Less than Year 10	12.3	23.1	35.4	10.1	44.0	77,230	
Year 10 or 11	15.8	28.1	43.9	9.9	51.4	112,188	
Year 12	18.5	30.5	49.0	15.8	60.9	46,955	
Post Secondary	19.1	31.9	51.0	14.6	61.3	80,318	
Unknown	23.8	30.5	54.2	13.7	62.1	2,818	
Gender							
Males	18.3	24.7	43.0	9.6	50.6	180,485	
Females	13.6	35.2	48.7	15.5	60.0	109,226	
Equity Groups5							
Disability	11.8	26.5	38.3	10.0	46.2	34,015	
Indigenous	16.0	17.7	33.6	11.5	42.7	39,865	
CALD6	16.2	26.3	42.5	18.3	58.0	46,487	
Sole Parents	14.4	37.5	51.9	15.2	62.6	21,917	
Total	16.5	28.8	45.2	11.9	54.3	289,711	
1.	Job seekers who left Intensive Support customised assistance between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved by 
30 September 2005.
2.	Positive outcomes include employment and education/training outcomes. Positive outcomes are less than the sum of employment and education/training outcomes because some job seekers achieve both an employment and an education/training outcome. Positive and employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.
3.	Job seeker who had a JSCI score of 22 or less and would have access to customised assistance at 12 months unemployment.  
4.	Job seeker who had a JSCI score of 23 or above at time of registration and had access to customised assistance immediately.  
5.	Equity groups are not mutually exclusive.
6.	People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds from other than main English Speaking countries.
Source: The Post Programme Monitoring Survey conducted three months after job seekers cease assistance. 

Intensive Support job search training
Table 1.5 shows the post assistance outcomes achieved by those who left the Intensive Support job search training between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved three months later, up to 30 September 2005.  
Post assistance outcomes for Intensive Support job search training participants by duration on allowance are not provided because almost all job seekers will access job search training immediately on their entry to the Intensive Support stream of assistance – which usually occurs at the three month mark of unemployment. 
Post-assistance outcomes for Intensive Support job search training remain strong.  Encouragingly for each of the department’s target groups, over half of the clients are in employment and/or education three months after completing their period of Intensive Support job search training.  Moreover, just on half of the Indigenous job seekers that participated were employed at the time of the survey.  

Table 1.5: Intensive Support job search training: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 20051
	Employment	Education& Training
(%)	Positive Outcomes2
(%)	Exits
(number)	

Job seeker characteristics	
Full-time
(%)	
Part-time
(%)	Total Employed
(%)				
Age Group (years)							
15 to 20	24.1	28.5	52.6	20.2	64.4	43,535	
21 to 24	29.4	29.1	58.5	18.1	69.0	32,777	
25 to 34	26.7	28.4	55.1	13.2	63.0	35,836	
35 to 49	24.1	28.8	52.8	12.6	61.3	30,884	
50 or more	19.2	27.5	46.7	9.3	53.1	14,020	
Educational attainment							
Less than Year 10	20.4	22.8	43.3	8.9	50.2	12,571	
Year 10 or 11	22.4	25.2	47.6	11.7	55.6	43,265	
Year 12	24.7	30.5	55.2	20.3	66.6	36,130	
Post Secondary	27.3	29.7	56.9	15.5	66.2	64,692	
Unknown	26.8	24.4	51.2	18.7	63.7	314	
Gender							
Males	27.9	23.6	51.5	12.8	59.9	94,621	
Females	21.1	34.6	55.6	18.1	66.0	62,431	
Equity Groups3							
Disability	20.1	25.5	45.7	13.5	55.1	3,608	
Indigenous	30.6	19.0	49.6	11.1	57.3	2,293	
CALD4	22.3	24.8	47.1	19.3	60.7	22,013	
Sole Parents	14.4	37.6	52.0	15.5	61.5	4,880	
Total	24.9	28.3	53.2	15.1	62.5	157,052	

1.	Job seekers who left Intensive Support job search training placements between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved by 30 September 2005.
2.	Positive outcomes include employment and education/training outcomes. Positive outcomes are less than the sum of employment and education/training outcomes because some job seekers achieve both an employment and an education/training outcome. Positive and employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.
3.	Equity groups are not mutually exclusive.
4.	People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds from other than main English Speaking countries.

Source: The Post Programme Monitoring Survey conducted three months after job seekers cease assistance.

Job Placement
Table 1.6 shows the post assistance outcomes achieved by those who achieved a Job Placement between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved three months later, up to 30 September 2005.  
Post-assistance outcomes for Job Placement have sustained their high levels, with around three-quarters of participants in employment and/or education three months after their original job placement.  

Table 1.6: Job Placements: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 20051
	Employment	Education& Training
(%)	Positive Outcomes2
(%)	Exits
(number)	

Job seeker characteristics	
Full-time
(%)	
Part-time
(%)	Total Employed
(%)				
Age Group (years)							
15 to 20	48.5	22.7	71.2	23.6	77.0	29,977	
21 to 24	45.2	22.2	67.3	14.6	72.1	17,408	
25 to 34	44.2	26.4	70.6	9.7	73.6	25,468	
35 to 49	44.1	28.3	72.4	7.0	74.6	23,314	
50 or more	41.6	30.1	71.7	4.8	73.8	7,383	
Duration on income support (months) 3		
0 to less than 6	46.2	25.5	71.6	13.9	75.8	33,646	
6 to less than 12	39.5	24.9	64.4	13.7	68.8	9,274	
12 to less than 24	37.6	24.1	61.7	10.9	65.7	7,362	
24 to less than 36	31.6	19.1	50.7	7.2	53.3	3,451	
36 or more	26.4	26.1	52.5	6.0	55.0	6,197	
Educational attainment 3							
Less than Year 10	35.7	19.7	55.4	6.4	59.2	7,620	
Year 10 or 11	40.2	23.2	63.4	8.5	66.3	20,345	
Year 12	45.7	24.4	70.1	19.9	75.9	12,766	
Post Secondary	42.3	28.4	70.7	13.1	74.4	18,126	
Unknown	41.4	28.9	70.4	18.5	76.3	1,073	
Gender							
Males	50.9	17.9	68.8	10.8	72.1	66,226	
Females	37.3	36.5	73.8	15.9	78.1	37,324	
Equity Groups3							
Disability	26.3	28.9	55.1	8.3	59.4	4,906	
Indigenous	35.4	17.1	52.6	9.0	56.0	2,712	
CALD4	37.3	25.8	63.1	14.1	70.1	5,870	
Sole Parents	23.7	44.4	68.1	13.8	73.4	2,873	
Job Network eligible (FJNE) 5	41.6	24.9	66.5	12.5	70.5	59,930	
Job Search Support Only (JSSO) 6	50.5	26.9	77.4	13.6	80.7	43,620	
Total	45.2	25.7	70.9	12.9	74.6	103,550	
1.	Job seekers who were placed in a Job Network eligible job between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved by 
30 September 2005.  For job seekers who achieved a Job Placement within three months of leaving labour market assistance such as Intensive Support job search training, Intensive Support customised assistance and Work for the Dole, the outcome is excluded from Job Placement but included under the programme or service they participated in. Outcomes estimates are based on a 25% sample of job seekers.
2.	Positive outcomes include employment and education/training outcomes. Positive outcomes are less than the sum of employment and education/training outcomes because some job seekers achieve both an employment and an education/training outcome. Positive and employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.
3.	Outcomes refer to Fully Job Network Eligible (FJNE) job seekers only as educational attainment and equity group details are not recorded for Job Search Support Only (JSSO) and JSSO job seekers are not on income support.  Equity groups are not mutually exclusive.
4.	People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds from other than main English Speaking countries.
5.	Includes Fully Job Network Eligible (FJNE) job seekers who may be eligible for other Job Network services.
6.	Includes Job Search Support Only (JSSO) job seekers who are only eligible for Job Search Support services.  
Source: The Post Programme Monitoring Survey conducted three months after job seekers cease assistance.

New Enterprise Incentive Scheme
Table 1.7 shows the post assistance outcomes achieved by those who left the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved three months later, up to 30 September 2005.  
Traditionally NEIS has always experienced higher outcomes compared to other types of labour market assistance.  This is due in part to the careful selection of viable businesses by NEIS providers prior to the commencement in assistance, as well as the characteristics of job seekers involved.
Post-assistance outcomes for NEIS continue to remain strong and well above stated targets.  Outcome rates achieved among the department’s key target groups are relatively similar to that achieved by the programme as a whole, reflecting the selective nature of participation in NEIS.  

Table 1.7: New Enterprise Incentive Scheme: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 20051
	Employment	Education& Training
(%)	Positive Outcomes3
(%)	Exits
(number)	

Job seeker characteristics	Self Employed2
(%)	
Employed
(%)	Total Employed
(%)				
Age Group (years)							
15 to 20	na	na	na	na	na	na	
21 to 24	68.9	18.5	87.4	14.0	91.4	625	
25 to 34	72.9	13.4	86.3	9.9	87.9	2,099	
35 to 49	69.3	12.3	81.6	8.7	83.7	2,610	
50 or more	67.5	12.6	80.0	5.6	82.0	950	
Duration on income support (months)		
0 to less than 6	74.1	15.2	89.3	11.0	91.4	2,933	
6 to less than 12	68.3	14.5	82.9	8.4	84.1	1,298	
12 to less than 24	65.8	10.9	76.8	5.9	78.4	825	
24 to less than 36	64.8	11.8	76.6	10.4	81.7	444	
36 or more	60.7	8.5	69.2	4.6	70.9	786	
Educational attainment							
Less than Year 10	65.0	7.4	72.4	4.8	73.7	258	
Year 10 or 11	65.4	13.8	79.2	4.9	80.7	997	
Year 12	66.5	13.8	80.3	9.4	82.4	934	
Post Secondary	72.1	14.1	86.3	10.3	88.3	3,599	
Unknown	70.8	11.0	81.8	9.7	85.5	602	
Gender							
Males	71.7	13.1	84.8	7.0	86.3	3,623	
Females	67.5	13.9	81.4	11.5	84.1	2,767	
Equity Groups4							
Disability	63.3	13.2	76.5	3.8	77.8	506	
Indigenous	na	na	na	na	na	na	
CALD5	69.5	13.9	83.5	10.0	86.4	1,024	
Sole Parents	55.8	20.3	76.2	13.1	79.8	414	
Total	69.8	13.5	83.3	9.0	85.3	6,390	
1.	Job seekers who left NEIS placements between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved by 30 September 2005.
2.	Includes a small proportion of participants who are self employed but in a business not set up under NEIS. 
3.	Positive outcomes include employment and education/training outcomes. Positive outcomes are less than the sum of employment and education/training outcomes because some job seekers achieve both an employment and an education/training outcome. Positive and employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.
4.	Equity groups are not mutually exclusive.
5.	People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds from other than main English Speaking countries.
na.	Not available as the estimate is based on a small number of known outcomes.

Source: The Post Programme Monitoring Survey conducted three months after job seekers cease assistance.

Work for the Dole
The Work for the Dole (WfD) Programme aims to develop the work habits of participants through involving them in quality projects that are of value to the community.  Employment outcomes are not part of the programme’s immediate objectives but are included here as they demonstrate the success of work experience and increased job search activity.  
Outcomes relate to WfD participants referred to Community Work Coordinators (CWC).  
Job seekers are required to participate in WfD for up to six months over a twelve month period.  This means that job seekers can participate in a number of projects with different CWC’s before completing their placement.  For the purposes of PPM, job seekers are surveyed whenever they have a break between CWC placements of more than 3 months since their last CWC placement in a twelve month period.  Job seekers aged 50 years or more who participate in Work for the Dole are volunteers. 
It should be noted that outcomes levels may change under the APM from pre-APM levels due to changes in the PPM survey methodology.  See the technical notes for more information.

Table 1.8: Work for the Dole: Post assistance outcomes year to end September 20051
	Employment	Education& Training
(%)	Positive Outcomes2
(%)	Exits
(number)	

Job seeker characteristics	
Full-time
(%)	
Part-time
(%)	Total Employed
(%)				
Age Group (years)							
15 to 20	18.0	19.2	37.2	16.7	50.2	12,059	
21 to 24	21.0	19.3	40.3	14.3	50.3	18,137	
25 to 34	16.3	17.1	33.4	10.5	41.5	25,001	
35 to 49	13.4	16.6	30.0	9.9	37.6	26,043	
50 or more	8.3	13.8	22.1	15.0	33.6	1,978	
Duration on income support (months)		
0 to less than 6	25.4	20.4	45.8	13.5	55.7	9,696	
6 to less than 12	21.9	18.9	40.9	15.5	52.0	18,321	
12 to less than 24	15.9	18.1	34.0	13.1	43.8	12,256	
24 to less than 36	13.9	19.7	33.6	12.3	42.6	11,249	
36 or more	10.5	14.8	25.3	9.0	32.8	31,640	
Educational attainment 3							
Less than Year 10	11.8	13.2	25.1	7.1	31.3	15,236	
Year 10 or 11	15.1	16.0	31.2	9.3	38.4	31,158	
Year 12	16.2	20.3	36.4	14.9	47.5	15,590	
Post Secondary	19.4	19.8	39.2	15.7	50.5	20,916	
Unknown	12.3	16.1	28.4	18.3	42.6	318	
Gender							
Males	18.1	14.2	32.3	9.5	39.7	59,578	
Females	11.4	24.2	35.6	17.0	48.1	23,640	
Equity Groups3							
Disability	10.4	16.4	26.8	9.2	34.0	6,511	
Indigenous	12.2	10.1	22.2	9.4	29.6	5,043	
CALD4	15.1	18.2	33.4	15.7	44.9	10,376	
Sole Parents	10.3	19.7	30.1	18.7	45.3	1,523	
Total	15.9	17.4	33.3	11.9	42.3	83,218	
1.	Job seekers who left a Work for the Dole project between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved by 30 September 2005.
2.	Positive outcomes include employment and education/training outcomes. Positive outcomes are less than the sum of employment and education/training outcomes because some job seekers achieve both an employment and an education/training outcome. Positive and employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.
3.	Equity groups are not mutually exclusive.
4.	People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds from other than main English Speaking countries.

Source: The Post Programme Monitoring Survey conducted three months after job seekers cease assistance.
Section 2: Trends in outcomes for Labour Market Assistance

An important measure of the effectiveness of employment assistance includes the long-term trends in outcomes.  It provides an assessment of whether over the period of operation of an intervention the service providers have developed effective servicing strategies.
These outcomes can be influenced by a range of exogenous factors such as the strength of the labour market, the distribution of available jobs and the position of the economy within the economic cycle.
Similarly it would be expected that the in the period following the introduction of a new intervention, outcomes will increase at a faster rate than interventions that have been in place for a longer period of time, as the effective servicing strategies are developed.  
Figure 2.1 below, provides positive outcome results for the main employment services provided over the last five years (from March 2001).  For those interventions superseded by Active Participation Model assistance, the services they superseded are also included.  There is a break in the series of between three and five quarter during the transition from ESC2 to ESC3 for these interventions.  This was due to the fact that there were insufficient PPM survey responses to provide for robust outcome estimates.
It can be seen that outcomes for the suite of Job Network and Work for the Dole services have generally continued to trend up from the outcomes achieved under ESC2.  
Some of the growth can be attributed to changes to the methodology used for the Post Programme Monitoring survey.  See the technical notes at the end of this report for further information. 

Figure 2.1:  has been removed and replaced with a description of the image to ensure that the information is available to people with various information accessibility needs. The image is included in the PDF version of this publication

1.  Positive outcomes for: Job Matching/Job Placement (JM/JP); Job Search Training/Intensive Support job search training (JST/ISjst); Intensive Assistance/Intensive Support customised assistance (IA/ISca); New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS); and Work for the Dole (WfD) for Post Programme Monitoring outcomes from March 2001 to June 2005.  Positive outcomes include employment and education/training outcomes.  Positive outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.

The New Enterprise Incentive Scheme 
The New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) helps eligible unemployed people to start and run a viable business of their own.  NEIS has been in operation since 1985 and currently operates through a network of providers.  NEIS assistance includes three months of accredited training followed by business advice and mentoring.  At the end of the training participants submit a business plan, which, if accepted, qualifies them for a full year of NEIS payments.   
Despite some fluctuations NEIS commencements have generally been trending downwards over time (See Figure 2.2).  This is due to the substantial fall in the number of unemployed persons and strong labour market conditions.
The pattern of businesses set up under NEIS since 1998 also reveal trends about the evolving nature of NEIS.  It is evident from Figure 2.3 that Personal and other service businesses set up under NEIS have increased as a proportion of NEIS businesses over this period while Manufacturing and Agriculture businesses have fallen.  These changes tend to reflect movements in the economy as a whole with the rapid growth in the services sector.  Overall, the Property and business services has remained the largest in terms of NEIS businesses. 

Figure 2.2:  has been removed and replaced with a description of the image to ensure that the information is available to people with various information accessibility needs. The image is included in the PDF version of this publication

Figure 2.3:  has been removed and replaced with a description of the image to ensure that the information is available to people with various information accessibility needs. The image is included in the PDF version of this publication

The New Enterprise Incentive Scheme 
 (continued)
Outcomes from the NEIS programme have remained relatively constant over time with positive outcomes around 85%, and employment outcomes around 83% of programme exits.  Self-employment outcomes make up the majority of employment outcomes at around 70% of exits.  
While there is little variation between self-employment outcomes across industry types there is some variation in outcomes levels when looking at outcomes by business types within each industry.  Within the retail sector for example, Flower retailing had the lowest level of self-employment outcomes at just under 50% of exits, while Specialised food retailing had a much higher self-employment outcomes rate of around 70%.  This difference in outcomes reflects differences in products and markets.  There is likely to be more opportunities to differentiate products in areas such as specialised food retailing as compared to flower retailing.  Figure 2.4, shows the business types that achieve the highest and lowest self-employment outcome rates.  Business types such as Plumbing services, Air conditioning and heating and Residential building construction have the highest levels of self-employment outcomes at around 85% of exits.  Others achieve somewhat lower outcome rates, such as secretarial services with a self-employment outcomes rate of just over 50%.  Differences in outcomes generally reflect whether a niche existed for the business when it was opened as a result of differences in the level of competition faced, profit margins and the level of product demand along with participant skills, expectations and experiences.
NEIS outcomes remain high, reflecting the careful selection of viable businesses by NEIS providers prior to commencement in assistance, as well as the characteristic of the job seekers involved. 

Figure 2.4:  has been removed and replaced with a description of the image to ensure that the information is available to people with various information accessibility needs. The image is included in the PDF version of this publication

1 Self employment outcomes include a small proportion of participants who are self-employed but in a business not set up under NEIS.

Source: Data obtained through the Post Programme Monitoring survey

Section 3: Access to and Participation in Labour Market Assistance

Type of labour market assistance
Table 3.1 shows the commencements in employment assistance for the year to end September 2004 and the year to end September 2005.  
The table also shows the proportion of commencements by job seekers who had been receiving income support [Newstart and Youth Allowance (Other)] for 12 months or more (ie long-term unemployed).
This is the first quarter where the flow of the stock of job seekers at the time of the transition from the second to third employment services contract round are not reflected in the commencement numbers.  For example for the year to end June 2004, there were over 1,000,000 commencements in the Job Search Support phase.  This fell to under 650,000 in the year to end September 2004.  This provides an opportunity to assess the relative participation and performance amongst the programmes below.
While commencement numbers within the Job Network streams of assistance fell from the year to end September 2004 to the year end September 2005, the number of Job Placements achieved increased.  This reflects the success of the Active Participation Model in assisting job seekers into employment and the broader strength of the labour market, with reduced inflows into Job Network.  

Table 3.1: Participation by type of labour market assistance in each of the past two years1
	Year to end September 2004	Year to end September 2005	
Labour market assistance	Commencements
(number)	Proportion of long term recipients2
(%)	Commencements
(number)	Proportion of long term recipients2
(%)	
Job Search Support3	642,719	na	502,786	na	
Intensive Support4	464,712	na	375,004	na	
	job search training	156,847	na	131,031	na	
	customised assistance	265,771	na	223,346	na	
Job Placement	601,534	40.7	663,189	44.4	
NEIS	6,184	25.7	6,388	24.8	
Work for the Dole	77,342	66.7	82,735	66.7	
IEP – STEP	5,433	45.9	3,347	52.0	
IEP - Wage Assistance	2,903	41.5	2,826	49.0	
Indigenous Employment Centres	2,637	na	2,796	na	
Community Work Placements	4,658	71.7	3,569	75.0	
Transition to Work	12,376	33.0	11,135	46.3	
1.	Commencement or placement of job seekers in labour market assistance funded by DEWR for the two years of 1 October 2003 to 
30 September 2004 and 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005.  
2.	The proportion of activity or non-activity tested job seekers who have been registered as unemployed for twelve months or more.   
3.	Job seekers with a registered Vocational Profile in the year up to 30 September 2005.  
4.	Job seekers who commenced any phase of assistance within the Intensive Support stream.

na 	not available.
 
Source: DEWR administrative systems.

Participation in Job Network assistance
Access to services and programmes by job seekers with different characteristics will depend on their eligibility and on their assessed capacity to benefit from the assistance provided.
Job seekers with particular characteristics may be under-represented in some types of assistance but over-represented in others. Hence, it is important to look at all types of assistance in assessing equity of assistance.  
Table 3.2 shows, for the range of Job Network services, the job seeker characteristics of those that received assistance in the year up to 30 September 2005.  Also provided is the demographic distribution of the Newstart and Youth Allowance (other) population at 30 September 2005.
Differing levels of participation are evident in relation to the age of the job seekers.  Job seekers aged 15 to 24 are more likely to participate in Job Network assistance, than their proportion of the Newstart/Youth Allowance (other) population suggest that they might participate.  On the other hand, those job seekers aged 50 or over are less likely to participate.  
The proportion of short-term unemployed job seekers (i.e. on income support for less than six months) in Job Search Support is influenced by the proportion of Job Search Support Only job seekers who have had a Vocational Profile done, but may not be on income support.  

Table 3.2: Participation in Job Network assistance by job seeker characteristics: September 20051
	Newstart/Youth Allowance (other) recipients 	Employment Assistance type	
Job seeker characteristics		Job Search 
Support2
(%)	Job 
Placement3
 (%)	Intensive 
Support
(%)	
Age group (years)					
15 to 20 	13.3	22.8	20.7	24.7	
21 to 24	16.3	13.9	17.0	16.0	
25 to 34	23.8	23.2	25.0	22.5	
35 to 49	26.6	27.8	26.5	25.2	
50 or more	19.9	12.3	10.8	11.7	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Duration on income support (months)					
0 to less than 6	25.7	86.8	37.5	62.7	
6 to less than 12	15.8	4.0	18.0	12.5	
12 to less than 24	18.2	3.7	18.9	10.7	
24 to less than 36	10.4	2.0	9.0	4.9	
36 or more	29.9	3.6	16.5	9.2	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Educational attainment					
Less than Year 10	21.9	19.0	20.9	23.5	
Year 10 or 11	34.0	37.5	41.6	39.6	
Year 12	17.7	21.6	19.6	18.9	
Post secondary	26.5	21.9	18.0	18.0	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Gender					
Male	64.0	50.3	64.8	56.0	
Female	36.0	49.7	35.2	44.0	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
Equity groups4					
Disability	16.3	5.9	7.5	8.2	
Indigenous	9.1	6.0	6.2	10.8	
CALD5	16.7	16.6	12.3	14.0	
Sole parents	1.6	9.0	4.4	9.6	
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	
1.	Commencements in Job Network employment assistance from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005.
2.	Commencements in Job Search Support measured through the demographic distribution of registered Vocational Profiles in the year up to 
30 September 2005.
3.	Demographic breakdown of Job Placements in the year up to 30 September 2005 
4.	Equity groups are not mutually exclusive.
5.	People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds from other than main English Speaking countries.

Source: DEWR administrative systems.

Access to Job Placements
A key performance indicator of Job Network is how it performs across various industries.  Table 3.3 shows vacancies and job placements by industry.  As can be seen, Manufacturing, Retail trade, Property and business services and Agriculture provide a significant source of vacancies and placements for Job Network.  
Differences are shown between vacancy and placement shares.  To some extent they will be due to the fact that the same vacancy may be filled several times depending on the needs of the employer.

Table 3.3: AJS Vacancies and Job Placements by Industry: September 2005
Industry	JNM and JPO initiated Vacancies1
(%)	JNM and JPO
Placement in Job Placement2
(%)	
Agricultural and industrial sector			
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing	5.2	7.0	
Mining	0.6	0.4	
Manufacturing	14.5	20.2	
Electricity, Gas and Water Supply	0.3	0.2	
Construction	7.7	5.9	
Services sector			
Wholesale Trade	3.7	3.8	
Retail Trade	14.6	11.1	
Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants	10.4	6.2	
Transport and Storage	3.8	2.9	
Communication Services	1.1	0.9	
Finance and Insurance	0.9	0.5	
Property and Business Services	23.1	31.7	
Cultural and Recreational Services	1.5	0.9	
Personal and Other Services	4.8	4.2	
Government and community sector			
Government Administration and Defence	1.1	0.9	
Education	1.7	0.7	
Health and Community Services	4.9	2.5	

1. 	Vacancies lodged by Job Network member or Job Placement Organisations on Australian JobSeach between 1 October 2004 and 30 September 2005.  Columns may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
2.	Australian JobSearch vacancies filled by Job Network members or Job Placement Organisations between 1 October 2004 and 30 September 2005.  Columns may not add up to 100% due to rounding.  

Source: DEWR administrative systems.

Participation in NEIS
Table 3.4 shows, for a range of job seeker characteristics, the proportion in the eligible population and the proportion commencing NEIS.  This is shown only for those on an eligible allowance, such as Newstart and Youth Allowance (other) and who are 18 years of age or older.  
NEIS is not targeted directly at job seekers with any particular characteristics.  Given the nature of the programme, however, some types of job seekers are less likely to participate in NEIS than others.  This is particular the case for groups such as youth (those aged 15 to 20) and the equity groups.  On the other hand persons with a post secondary education participate in NEIS at a higher rate than their proportion of the eligible population. 

 Table 3.4: Access to NEIS by job seeker characteristics year to end September 20051

Job seeker characteristics	Eligibility for NEIS2
(%)	Commencement in NEIS
(%)	
Age group (years)			
15 to 20 	10.5	2.1	
21 to 24	16.9	9.3	
25 to 34	24.6	32.1	
35 to 49	27.5	40.4	
50 or more	20.6	16.0	
Total	100.0	100.0	
Duration on income support (months)			
0 to less than 6	24.8	50.8	
6 to less than 12	15.5	24.5	
12 to less than 24	18.2	12.5	
24 to less than 36	10.7	4.9	
36 or more	30.8	7.4	
Total	100.0	100.0	
Educational attainment			
Less than Year 10	21.4	4.6	
Year 10 or 11	33.4	15.8	
Year 12	18.1	16.8	
Post secondary	27.1	30.9	
Total	100.0	100.0	
Gender			
Male	64.4	54.0	
Female	35.6	46.0	
Total	100.0	100.0	
Equity groups3			
Disability	16.7	8.0	
Indigenous	8.7	2.6	
CALD4	17.2	15.7	
Sole parents	1.7	6.0	

1.	Commencement of job seekers in NEIS from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005. 
2.	Job seekers receiving Newstart and Youth Allowance (Other) and 18 or over as at 30 September 2005. 
3.	Equity groups are not mutually exclusive.
4.	People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds from other than main English  Speaking countries 

Source: DEWR administrative systems.

Participation in Work for the Dole
Table 3.5 shows, for a range of job seeker characteristics, the proportion in the eligible population and the proportion commencing Work for the Dole (WfD). This is shown only for those on the activity tested payments Newstart and Youth Allowance (other) and who are 18 years of age or older. 
Job seekers are required to participate in WfD for up to six months over a twelve month period.  This means that job seekers can participate in a number of different WfD projects and with different CWCs before completing their placement.  Each time a job seeker starts with a CWC, a new commencement is recorded.
Job seekers aged 50 years or more who participate in Work for the Dole are volunteers. 
WfD tends to exhibit different patterns in participation to NEIS with younger job seekers proportionally over-represented in the participating population in relation to their eligibility, while job seekers unemployed for less than six months under-represented.  Again this reflects the unique eligibility requirements of the programme. 

Table 3.5: Access to Work for the Dole by job seeker characteristics year to end September 20051

Job seeker characteristics	Eligibility for Work for Dole2
(%)	Commencement in Work for the Dole
(%)	
Age group (years)			
15 to 20 	10.5	15.6	
21 to 24	16.9	21.8	
25 to 34	24.6	28.7	
35 to 49	27.5	31.4	
50 or more	20.6	2.5	
Total	100.0	100.0	
Duration on income support (months)			
0 to less than 6	24.8	5.8	
6 to less than 12	15.5	27.5	
12 to less than 24	18.2	15.5	
24 to less than 36	10.7	13.9	
36 or more	30.8	37.3	
Total	100.0	100.0	
Educational attainment			
Less than Year 10	21.4	33.6	
Year 10 or 11	33.4	36.7	
Year 12	18.1	16.5	
Post secondary	27.1	13.3	
Total	100.0	100.0	
Gender			
Male	64.4	70.6	
Female	35.6	29.4	
Total	100.0	100.0	
Equity groups3			
Disability	16.7	7.5	
Indigenous	8.7	6.3	
CALD4	17.2	12.6	
Sole parents	1.7	1.2	

1.	Commencement of job seekers in Work for the Dole from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005. 
2.	Job seekers receiving Newstart and Youth Allowance (Other) as at 30 September 2005. 
3.	Equity groups are not mutually exclusive.
4.	People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds from other than main English 

Source: DEWR administrative systems.

Section 4: Participation and Outcomes by Region

Participation in labour market assistance by region
This section presents data on participation by job seekers in labour market assistance for the DEWR Labour Market Regions. A map of DEWR regions is included in the Technical Notes of this report. 
Reporting at a regional level is restricted to the main types of Job Network assistance and Work for the Dole.

Table 4.1 provides details of placements in Job Placement jobs and commencements in Job Search Support, Intensive Support and Work for the Dole.
The number of placements and commencements in the various types of labour market assistance will depend on the size of the region, labour market conditions and the relative disadvantage of job seekers in the region. 

Table 4.1: Commencements in labour market assistance by region: September 20051
DEWR Region	Job Search Support
(Number)	Job Placements
(Number)	Intensive Support
(Number)	Work for the Dole
(Number)	
Sydney	86,195	83,263	56,034	13,402	
Hunter and North Coast	37,396	39,767	30,927	7,839	
Illawarra and SE NSW	16,848	19,475	12,936	3,678	
Western NSW	16,105	23,479	13,013	2,630	
Riverina	6,821	11,951	5,072	986	
New South Wales	163,365	177,935	117,982	28,535	
Melbourne	80,296	102,784	54,377	12,072	
Eastern Victoria	11,796	22,240	10,725	2,590	
Western Victoria	20,624	34,932	16,592	4,397	
Victoria	112,716	159,956	81,694	19,059	
Brisbane	74,065	102,192	51,026	10,249	
Southern Queensland	16,446	24,014	13,862	3,477	
Central and Northern QLD	27,850	41,162	21,369	4,271	
Queensland	118,361	167,368	86,257	17,997	
Perth	31,142	43,656	24,113	4,427	
South Western Australia	7,071	10,322	5,159	1,244	
Greater Western Australia	7,293	7,378	6,956	739	
Western Australia	45,506	61,356	36,228	6,410	
Adelaide	26,066	42,255	20,987	4,863	
South Australia Country	11,121	19,559	9,206	1,994	
South Australia	37,187	61,814	30,139	6,857	
					
Tasmania	13,123	22,041	11,514	2,662	
					
Northern Territory	7,216	6,869	7,717	508	
					
Australian Capital Territory	5,312	5,850	3,419	707	
					
Australia	502,786	663,189	375,004	82,735	
1.	Commencements in Job Network employment assistance and Work for the Dole from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005.

Source: DEWR administrative systems.

Labour market assistance by region
Table 4.2 shows the proportion of Newstart and Youth Allowance (Other) recipients as at September 2005 compared to the proportion of Job Network eligible Job Placements and commencements in Job Search Support, Intensive Support and Work for the Dole.  This is provided on a DEWR regional and State and Territory basis. 

While in most other regions participation levels generally reflect levels of eligibility, both New South Wales and Queensland have higher levels of participation in Work for the Dole than their proportion of the Newstart/Youth Allowance (other) population would suggest. This differs significantly with the result in the Northern Territory where participation levels in Work for the Dole are substantially below the proportion of Newstart/Youth Allowance (other) registrants.  

Table 4.2: Comparison of labour market assistance by region year to end September 2005
DEWR Region	Newstart/ Youth Allowance (Other) recipients1
(%)	Job Search Support2
(%)	Intensive Support2
(%)	Work for 
the Dole2
(%)	
Sydney	16.2	17.1	14.9	16.2	
Hunter and North Coast	7.9	7.4	8.2	9.5	
Illawarra and SE NSW	3.3	3.4	3.4	4.4	
Western NSW	3.3	3.2	3.5	3.2	
Riverina	1.3	1.4	1.4	1.2	
New South Wales	31.9	32.5	31.5	34.5	
Melbourne	17.0	16.0	14.5	14.6	
Eastern Victoria	2.6	2.3	2.9	3.1	
Western Victoria	4.5	4.1	4.4	5.3	
Victoria	24.2	22.4	21.8	23.0	
Brisbane	12.1	14.7	13.6	12.4	
Southern Queensland	3.0	3.3	3.7	4.2	
Central and Northern QLD	4.8	5.5	5.7	5.2	
Queensland	19.8	23.5	23.0	21.8	
Perth	6.0	6.2	6.4	5.4	
South Western Australia	1.3	1.4	1.4	1.5	
Greater Western Australia	1.5	1.5	1.9	0.9	
Western Australia	8.8	9.1	9.7	7.7	
Adelaide	5.9	5.2	5.6	5.9	
South Australia Country	2.4	2.2	2.5	2.4	
South Australia	8.3	7.4	8.1	8.3	
					
Tasmania	3.5	2.6	3.1	3.2	
					
Northern Territory	2.5	1.4	2.1	0.6	
					
Australian Capital Territory	1.0	1.1	0.9	0.9	
					
Australia	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	

1.	Job Seekers receiving Newstart or Youth Allowance (Other) as at 30 September 2005.
2.	Commencements in Job Network employment assistance or Work for the Dole from 1 October 2004 to 30 September 2005.

Source: DEWR administrative systems.

Employment outcomes by region
Table 4.3 shows employment outcomes for job seekers who ceased assistance between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and achieved by 30 September 2005.  Employment outcomes are for Job Placement, Intensive Support job search training, Intensive Support customised assistance and Work for the Dole.  Job Placement outcomes include both fully Job Network Eligible and Job Search Support Only job seekers.  Outcomes are presented on a DEWR regional, State and Territory and national basis. 

Table 4.3:  Regional labour market post assistance employment outcomes year to end September 20051
DEWR Region	Job Placement2
(%)
	Intensive Support job search training3 (%)	Intensive Support customised assistance3 (%)	Intensive Support4
(%)	Work for 
the Dole3
(%)	
Sydney	64.5	47.5	40.2	43.2	30.4	
Hunter and North Coast	72.0	52.2	44.5	46.7	28.1	
Illawarra and SE NSW	74.3	50.2	44.1	48.4	30.0	
Western NSW	68.9	51.8	41.1	43.1	29.8	
Riverina	77.1	51.8	41.9	46.3	29.3	
New South Wales	68.7	49.5	42.2	44.9	29.7	
Melbourne	69.9	52.7	45.5	47.1	32.8	
Eastern Victoria	64.5	53.2	46.9	48.5	26.3	
Western Victoria	74.4	52.2	47.0	49.5	33.5	
Victoria	70.1	52.7	46.0	47.8	32.1	
Brisbane	73.5	57.1	50.9	56.7	42.4	
Southern Queensland	72.8	56.1	45.3	49.5	34.9	
Central and Northern QLD	71.6	57.5	43.3	46.8	35.8	
Queensland	73.0	57.1	47.7	53.1	39.6	
Perth	72.5	56.1	50.6	53.1	38.1	
South Western Australia	71.4	57.6	52.1	54.4	45.5	
Greater Western Australia	78.4	53.9	39.7	45.0	26.4	
Western Australia	73.2	56.4	49.1	52.4	38.3	
Adelaide	69.8	54.7	47.6	50.5	33.1	
South Australia Country	69.3	56.2	47.5	48.4	31.7	
South Australia	69.6	55.2	47.6	49.8	32.9	
						
Tasmania	69.7	53.0	46.1	47.1	29.5	
						
Northern Territory	72.1	54.5	30.3	35.7	23.9	
						
Australian Capital Territory	88.0	53.8	48.3	51.0	34.2	
						
Australia	70.9	53.2	45.2	48.4	33.3	
1.	Employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to a Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) after leaving labour market assistance.  
2.	Job Placement outcomes are for job seekers placed in an eligible Job Placement job between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved by 30 September 2005.  For job seekers who achieved a Job Placement within three months of leaving labour market assistance such as Intensive Support job search training, Intensive Support customised assistance and Work for the Dole, the outcome is excluded from Job Placement but included under the programme or service they participated in.  
3.	Post assistance employment outcomes relate to job seekers who ceased Intensive Support customised assistance, Intensive Support job search training or Work for the Dole between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved by 30 September 2005.  
4.	Job seekers who commenced Intensive Support between 1 July 2003 and 30 June 2004 and left Intensive Support or were receiving Intensive Support assistance for 12 months between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2005 and outcomes achieved by 30 September 2005.  
Source: The Post Programme Monitoring Survey conducted three months after job seekers cease assistance.

Section 5: Impact on Income Support Recipients

Number of income support recipients
An important goal of employment assistance is to reduce or remove employment barriers experienced by job seekers so they can compete effectively for jobs.  Higher levels of employment assistance are provided to the most disadvantaged job seekers. 
While this report focuses mainly on the outcomes achieved by individual forms of assistance, it is also important to note that other factors, such as administrative changes and economic conditions, also have a significant impact on the number of income support recipients.
Figure 5.1 shows the changes over time in the number of short and long term income support recipients. Many long term recipients (in receipt of Newstart and Youth Allowance (Other) for 12 months or more) will have had a job at some time over the last 12 months.  These job seekers are reclassified as short term recipients only if they remain totally off benefits for a continuous period of more than 13 weeks. 
Hence, long-term recipients should not be confused with the long term unemployed as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.  The long-term unemployed are people currently looking for work who have not had a job that lasted for 2 weeks or more in the last year.
Data on income support recipients shows that in the 12 months to the end of September 2005, the number of people in receipt of Newstart or Youth Allowance (Other) decreased by around 28,200 to just over 558,300 job seekers.  The number of job seekers who were long-term recipients decreased by just under 21,400 while the number of short-term recipients decreased by just under 6,800. 

Figure 5.1: has been removed and replaced with a description of the image to ensure that the information is available to people with various information accessibility needs. The image is included in the PDF version of this publication

1.	Figures quoted in the text are from the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations: “Labour Market and Related Payments a monthly profile, September 2005”.

  Source: Trend series based on data from DEWR administrative system.

Off-Benefit outcomes
An assessment of the impact that assistance has can also be undertaken by looking at the income support status of participants after they leave assistance.  
Figure 5.2 shows the off-benefit status of job seekers three and six months after they had exited employment assistance.  Results are not shown for Transition to Work as a significant proportion of the population are not on income support when they commenced in the programme.  
Off-benefit outcomes are only measured for clients who were in receipt of Newstart and Youth Allowance (other) (i.e. activity tested beneficiaries) when they commenced their employment assistance placement.  Other clients, on non-activity tested benefits have different allowable earnings thresholds and their inclusion has the potential to distort the results.  
The majority of job seekers who move off income support do so for employment, particularly full-time employment.  For most programmes, however, off-benefit outcomes levels are generally slightly lower than employment outcomes levels.  This reflects the fact that three months after exiting an employment assistance placement the proportion of people in part-time work who remain on benefits is somewhat larger than the proportion that have moved off income support for reasons other than employment (e.g. leaving the labour market).  
Three month off-benefit outcomes tend to mirror what is found in relation to employment outcomes, with those programmes that achieve high employment outcomes achieving high three months off-benefit outcomes. Those that achieve high off-benefit outcomes at three months experience little change at the six month mark.  This indicates that for these programmes the benefits happen relatively shortly after completing the programme.   
For other programmes, particularly those targeted at the more disadvantaged, it is evident that there is a substantial rise in off-benefit levels between three and six months after leaving assistance.  This indicates that the benefit’s from the programmes tends to take longer to materialise for the job seeker.  Notwithstanding this longer lead time, strong off-benefit outcomes are achieved for most programmes.  Off-benefit outcomes for job seekers receiving Intensive Support increased by nine percentage points, between three and six months after they became in-scope.  Strong increases in off-benefit outcomes are also evident for the other phases of Job Network assistance, highlighting the longer-term outcomes achieved from the assistance provided.  

Figure 5.2: has been removed and replaced with a description of the image to ensure that the information is available to people with various information accessibility needs. The image is included in the PDF version of this publication

1.	Job seekers who left assistance between 1 July 2004 and 31 June 2005 and were not on income support three months later.
2.	Job seekers who left assistance between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2005 and were not on income support six months later.  

Technical Notes

Data sources, sampling, further assistance and survey results
Data Sources
The department uses a number of data sources to determine the outcomes achieved by job seekers during and after they have ceased labour market assistance.  The two main data sources are the Post Programme Monitoring (PPM) survey and the department’s administrative database held within the Integrated Employment System (IES).
PPM surveys have been undertaken since 1987 and are used to assess the labour force and education status of former programme participants three months after they exit assistance.  The IES records details of placements, commencements and paid outcomes for labour market assistance.
Survey Sampling
With the introduction of the Active Participation Model (APM) in July 2003 the PPM methodology was subjected to revision.  Prior to the APM, a full enumeration of clients exiting programmes and not in further assistance was attempted (with the exception of Intensive Assistance and Job Matching which were based on 25% samples).
From July 2003 onwards, the PPM survey uses a sampling approach to assess the performance of all employment assistance.  For all programmes except Job Placement, a 25% sample of clients in the following categories is undertaken:
a) clients found to be on full-rate of Newstart or Youth Allowance(Other) and/or in a subsequent programme placement (also known as ‘further assistance’) at the time they are due to be surveyed;
b) clients who achieved a 13 week payable outcome after receiving assistance under Intensive Support; and
c) clients who have reached 12, 24 or 36 months participation in Intensive Support (IS) without exiting.
The PPM outcome of clients in category (b) is recorded as employed or in education based on the type of payable outcome they achieved.  These clients are only surveyed to obtain supplementary information about their labour force and education status.  A full enumeration of clients not in categories a, b, or c is attempted.
For clients who were placed in a job through Job Placement, a survey of 25% of clients is undertaken.

Further Assistance
A client is defined as being in further assistance if, at the time they are due to be surveyed, the client is found to have commenced a subsequent placement.  Intensive Support itself is not counted as further assistance unless the client moves between providers for whatever reason.
As outlined previously, a 25% sample of clients found to be in further assistance is currently included in the survey.  Prior to the commencement of the APM, clients in further assistance were not surveyed and their outcomes were simply recorded as ‘in further assistance’.  While these clients may have potentially been either in a part time job and/or in education, these outcomes were not captured as these clients were not surveyed.  Under the new sampling methodology these outcomes can now be recorded.
The impact on PPM results of surveying job seekers in further assistance will vary amongst the programmes.  Programmes such as TTW and NEIS will see little impact on their outcomes results given that few of their participants proceeded to further assistance.  For other programs, the impacts will vary, but any variations will generally be modest.
Comparisons with pre-APM outcomes
In addition to the limitations outlined above in the ‘Further Assistance’ section, care should also be taken when comparing outcomes achieved for services delivered under the APM with outcomes for similar pre-APM Job Network services.  This is because similar types of assistance (eg Intensive Assistance delivered under ESC rounds 1 and 2, and Intensive Support customised assistance delivered under the APM), will have differences in client mix and the type, and way, in which services are delivered to clients.
Intensive Support population
The population used for the calculation of IS outcomes includes those clients who, in any given reporting period first: a) exited IS, b) began a 13 week period leading to an outcome or intermediate payment; or c) reached 12, 24 or 36 months participation in IS without exiting.
Clients are surveyed after 12, 24 and 36 months participation to avoid potential biases in the calculation of outcomes results.  If these clients were not surveyed as they progressed through IS, outcomes would be overstated as those not achieving outcomes would remain in assistance and not enter the survey.
In addition, if a client is due to be surveyed during /after their participation in IS, or after participating in ISca or ISjst, and is found to have been surveyed in the last 3 months, then their outcome will be set to the outcome (if it is known) that was obtained when they were surveyed previously.
Survey results
Aside from IS, ISjst and ISca, where PPM results are based on a combination of survey responses and payable outcomes data, all outcome estimates are based on survey responses.  The overall response rate for the PPM survey, at around 60%, provides outcomes estimates that are generally accurate to within plus or minus 1 percentage point at the National level.

Labour Market Assistance Descriptions
Intensive Support stream:  provides individually tailored assistance for up to 42 months for eligible job seekers.  Access to assistance through Intensive Support is immediately at registration for those job seekers identified as highly disadvantaged with the remainder having access to assistance after three months of unemployment.  Under Intensive Support a job seeker can have access to the general Intensive Support assistance, Intensive Support job search training and/or Intensive Support customised assistance.
Intensive Support (IS):  assistance will be provided during periods between ISjst, ISmo and ISca.  During these periods, job seekers will continue to have access to job search assistance and facilities at their Job Network member site, guidance in relation to job search and the regular updating of their vocational profile.  
Intensive Support customised assistance (ISca):  provides for six months of assistance tailored to the jobseekers’ individual needs and to available jobs opportunities.  Job seekers who are most disadvantaged (as determined by their JSCI score) receive immediate access to ISca.  Other job seekers will be eligible to receive ISca assistance after 12 months of unemployment.  
Intensive Support job search training (ISjst):  provides training for up to 100 hours (over three weeks) in job search techniques and job application skills to give unemployed people the skills and confidence to improve their job search skills, motivation and expand their job search networks.  Mature age and Indigenous job seekers have immediate access to ISjst on registration for unemployment allowance.  
Intensive Support mutual obligation (ISmo):  occurs at the same time that a job seeker’s ordinary mutual obligation requirements commence.  The objective of Job Network services during these periods is to ensure that job seekers continue to be actively engaged in job search activities and improving their job prospects.  
Job Placement services refer suitable job seekers to vacancies and canvass and list job vacancies on the Australian Job Search database.  DEWR licensed 

recruitment agencies, Job Placement Organisation (JPOs), are in a position to provide Job Placement service to eligible job seekers. Job Network members are licensed as JPOs. 
New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS): provides support and training for eligible job seekers who wish to pursue the option of self-employment. 
Indigenous Employment Programme: replaced the Training for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders Programme (TAP) and has several components. It includes Wage Assistance which is a wage subsidy paid to employers over 26 weeks providing on-going employment. In Structured Training and Employment Projects (STEP), employers in the private sector and regional and community based employment sponsor organisations provide jobs, generally involving accredited training or a traineeship. 
Indigenous Employment Centres: help Community Development Employment Project participants find employment.
Work for the Dole: provides assistance for job seekers to develop work habits, generic work skills and work experience by participating in community projects and activities for up to 26 weeks over a 12 month period.
Community Work placements: assist job seekers to gain skills and work experience and provides access to additional benefits such as Training Credits and Passport to Employment after participating in voluntary work for a specified number of hours. 
Transition to Work Programme: helps job seekers who are parents, carers and mature age people 50 years and over entering the workforce for the first time or returning to the workforce after an absence of 2 years or more. 
Training accounts: help mature age and indigenous job seekers who participate in Intensive Support or Indigenous Employment Centres improve their employment prospects through the provision of training. 
Training Credits: provide job seekers who participate in a Work for the Dole or Community Work Placement for between 16 and 26 weeks with a training credit which can be used to pay for additional training.

General Definitions
AJS, Australian JobSearch (http://jobsearch.gov.au): lists all job vacancies notified to the Job Network and provides contact details for Job Network members.  It is available in Centrelink and at Job Network member offices and through the DEWR Internet site (http://www.workplace.gov.au).
Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) :is a scheme that provides work for Indigenous Australians in community-managed activities that help the individual to acquire skills that benefit the community, develop business enterprises and/or lead to unsubsidised employment.  It usually involves part-time work at the equivalent of the unemployment allowance.  Positive and employment outcomes exclude Indigenous job seekers who return to a CDEP after leaving labour market assistance. 
Community Work Coordinators: are contracted to develop Community Work placements and Work for the Dole projects/activities and manage the placement of eligible job seekers into those projects/activities.
Educational attainment: refers to the highest educational level completed by job seekers. 
Eligible vacancy: is a job vacancy listed on the Australian Job Search database that is eligible for a payment under Job Network.
Further assistance: includes job seekers who proceed to another DEWR or DEST funded employment programme or service within three months of exiting employment assistance. It includes commencements in Intensive Support job search training (ISjst), Intensive Support customised assistance (ISca), New Apprenticeships, NEIS, Work for the Dole, Green Corps, Advanced English for Migrants Programme (AEMP) and the STEP and Wage Assistance components of the Indigenous Employment Policy.  A job seeker who is in the general Intensive Support or Job Search Support streams of assistance are not regarded as being in further assistance.  
Income support recipients: includes job seekers registered with Centrelink as unemployed and in receipt of Newstart Allowance (NSA) or job seekers aged 15 to 24 not in full-time education and in receipt of Youth Allowance (Other) (YA). 

Job Search Support Only (JSSO): refers to those job seekers, irrespective of their income support status, who are eligible for only Job Search Support services and no other form of Job Network services.  JSSO job seekers can renew their registration as unemployed every three months with either Centrelink or their Job Network member. 
Job placements: include placements provided under Job Search Support and job placements under Intensive Support customised assistance.
Fully Job Network Eligible (FJNE): refers to those job seekers who are eligible to receive the full suite of Job Network services.  Any unemployed person receiving Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance (Other) or another form of qualifying income support payment and young people not in full-time study irrespective of income support are eligible for Job Network assistance.  CDEP participants are also eligible for Job Network services.
Job Seeker Classification Instrument (JSCI): a measurement of a job seeker’s relative disadvantage in obtaining employment – because of their personal circumstance and labour market skills – and is used to determine the level of labour market assistance required. 
People from Culturally And Linguistic Diverse backgrounds (CALD): refers to people from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds, where the main language spoken is not English.
Work for the Dole (WfD) commencement: involves a job seeker participating in a WfD activity for up to six months over a 12-month period.  This means that job seekers can participate in a number of different WfD projects and with different CWCs before completing their placement.  Each time a job seeker starts with a CWC, a new commencement is recorded.
Work for the Dole exit: for the purposes of PPM, occurs when a job seeker has a break between CWC placements of more than 3 months and in relation to their last CWC placement in the 12 month period.  Clients exiting WfD will be subsequently surveyed. 

Regional Coverage
Regions used in this report are based on the 19 labour market regions used in contracting for DEWR programmes and services.

DEWR labour market regions

Perth
Southern WA
Greater WA
Northern Teritory
SA Country
Adelaide
Central and Northern QLD
Southern QLD
Brisbane
Western NSW
Hunter and North Coast
Sydney
ACT
Riverina
Illawarra and South East NSW
Eastern Victoria
Melbourne
Western Victoria
Tasmania