By Bec Jackson FIEP, Principal Policy Advisor, APM
As anyone who has been around the employment services space for a little while will tell you, the one thing that always seems certain is that change is on the horizon.
In Australia it often feels like we are in a constant state of reform. Easy to understand when you think about it – our current specialist disability employment services (DES, as we endearingly refer to the program) have been under review since 2020, a review that kicked off just 18 months after a new and improved version of the program was implemented in 2018 (that time after three years of consultation and design).
Then there’s our mainstream employment service, Workforce Australia (WfA). This one has just been the subject of a significant inquiry – which started one month after the new program commenced, and has ended with more than 70 recommendations for reform, and we aren’t even halfway through the intended life of the deed yet.
At the heart of these reform discussions is the need for a more person-centred approach to employment services delivery.
While employment services in Australia aim to provide tailored assistance to help job seekers find and keep a job, the programs are often criticised for their one-size-fits-all approach and heavy emphasis on compliance, administration, and job placement rather than long-term sustainable employment and quality services.
New elements like the DES Quality Framework help to focus attention on the role the job seeker plays in services and their journey to work. This is a good thing and gives us as a sector a clear look at some early government thinking on what is most important in our services and the way they are delivered (read likely directions for reform).
But while the signs are useful, the bigger question is what does it mean to deliver person-centred services, and what gets in the way? Do we really need to wait for reform to centre job seekers in our services, or is the future right here, right now?
Person-centred design defined.
Person-centred approaches have their roots in healthcare and education disciplines. It is based on the premise that safe, high-quality services/care is that which respects and responds to the preferences, needs, knowledge, and values of consumers, recognising that every person is unique and complex and that working together on shared planning and decision-making leads to better outcomes.
In the simplest terms, the key principles that underpin person-centred practice are:
• Respecting the individual
• Treating people with dignity
• Understanding their experiences and goals
• Giving responsibility
• Coordinating support
What does that mean for employment services?
Ask ChatGPT (because no millennial ‘googles’ anymore) and it will tell you that “person-centred design in employment services is an approach that prioritises the unique needs, preferences, abilities, and circumstances of each job seeker. Unlike traditional models that apply standardised methods to all clients, person-centred design tailors services and support to align with individual career aspirations, skills, and life situations. This methodology is founded on the principles of empowerment, respect, and active participation of the job seekers in their own employment journey”.
A truly person-centred approach seeks to transform employment services into a more dynamic and responsive system that not only meets the immediate job placement needs but also supports long-term career development and personal fulfilment.
More tailored services lead to better engagement in services, better engagement leads to more personalised pathways, which leads to more people in more jobs that fit their skills, needs, aspirations, and values – ultimately enhancing job satisfaction and retention. The practice also supports empowerment and self-realisation through the process of shared and informed decision making – which fosters a sense of autonomy and builds resilience. And all these things help reduce the long lamented ‘churn’ of job seekers through the employment services.
Unsurprisingly, this sounds a lot like what good providers and practitioners do every day. We spend time getting to know the job seekers we are working with, work together to create tailored plans to meet their goals, deliver supports and connect them with services to address barriers, and help them understand how their unique skills and experience fit in the local labour market, creating a pathway work that works for them and job opportunities within their communities.
So why is it that we’re still focused on reform to get us to person-centred services?
Systems getting in the way of service.
One of the most poignant points to come out of the WfA Inquiry was the recognition that service providers, and specifically frontline practitioners are “consistently having to fight against the system to help their clients”.
The employment services system is complex and can be rigid, with job seekers frequently feeling that services are more focused on meeting administrative benchmarks rather than addressing individual needs and aspirations. Practitioners walk the line between policing mutual obligation and acting as trusted partner on the employment journey. This results in a mismatch between the support provided and the diverse realities of job seekers, especially those with more complex barriers to employment such as disability, long-term unemployment, or cultural and linguistic diversity.
Further, person-centred services are resource intensive, and resources get swallowed up in administration, red tape, and regulation – actions which don’t contribute to the job seeker experience, but often undermine it.
Current policy (and reform considerations across all programs) seems to forget that employment services are fundamentally human services. They are built around supporting human beings. That makes them inherently person-centred. It’s not a new idea. The system has just gotten too ‘systemy’, reducing the capacity of services to do what they do best.
So, what needs to change?
When we think about reform, there are some key changes that would help enhance person-centred service delivery:
• Policy frameworks that both encourages and rewards personalised, long term support strategies.
• Resources (funding models) and flexibility (contract design) that enable responsive and effective service solutions that are tailored to the needs of clients at the local level.
• A Centre of Excellence that supports ongoing sector and practitioner development based on contemporary good practice and best evidence.
• Enhanced technology and systems that empower rather than restrain quality service delivery.
• A framework for evaluating the success of employment services, focusing on service impact, quality of employment and job seeker well-being, as well as placements and outcomes.
Implementation of these reforms would help build on the foundational practices already in place and transform employment services into a more responsive, effective, and human-centred system – which is what everyone wants to see.
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Additional resource:
IEP’s Centre for Employability Excellence’s latest seminar was on the topic of Client-Centred Employment Service Design which you can view here https://vimeo.com/937571529
