Welfare to Work

The aim of the Welfare to Work policy introduced in 2006 was to move people off income support and into paid work. The target groups were parents returning to work, people on disability payments, and the long-term and mature-age unemployed.

The policy envisaged a role for training in helping people in these groups find jobs, and in 2006 NCVER commissioned and funded two studies to investigate that role.

Common to both studies is a concern that pushing people in the target groups into work without any training may mean they end up in low-paid jobs or back on welfare. The studies suggest that VET can be a way of getting people into better work that is more sustainable.

“Increasing skills and hence employability brings benefits not only to individuals, but also addresses the need for a skilled workforce in a time of skill shortages”, says Kate Barnett, co-author of Complex not simple: The vocational education and training pathway from welfare to work, highlighting the fact that these groups also represent untapped pools of labour.

However, factors such as personal circumstances, poor literacy and numeracy and lack of study and employability skills make engaging in training difficult. Both studies point to the importance of preparatory courses. “As many people in the target groups have yet to experience formal education and training in a positive way, they are unlikely to complete mainstream VET programs without significant support and preparatory studies”, says Dr Barnett.

John Guenther, co-author of The role of vocational education and training in welfare to work, also suggests that a case-management approach that deliberately includes skills development should be incorporated as a way of overcoming multiple barriers to training.

Both studies point to the need for reform at a variety of levels to raise the profile of training in Welfare to Work. And policies relating to eligibility and resource provision need to change so that people in the target groups are supported to attend preparatory and longer courses and hence make the most of VET.

Complex not simple: The vocational education and training pathway from welfare to work is available at
www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1987.html

The role of vocational education and training in welfare to work is available at
www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1986.html