Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan today welcomed the release of the Exposure Draft of the Request for Proposal for the Australian Government’s new Transition to Work service for young job seekers.
He said the Transition to Work service was the centrepiece of the Coalition Government’s $331 million Youth Employment Strategy announced in the Budget and will help more young people move into work.
“I am determined to make sure our local kids have the opportunity to get local jobs,” Mr Hogan said.
“The new Transition to Work service will provide intensive support to early school leavers aged 15 to 21 years to improve their work-readiness and help them move into a job or re-engage in education.”
He said that the new model had a number of features to ensure young job seekers received the practical help they need and a strong focus on outcomes.
“The Government recognises that young people who leave school early are most at risk of long term unemployment and need more support than other job seekers to move into work or re-engage with education,” Mr Hogan said.
“That’s why the Government is providing a significant upfront payment to ensure that young people receive the right sort of help early enough to improve their chances of getting an interview and finding and keeping a job.
“In return for the upfront investment, Transition to Work providers will be required to achieve a minimum number of 12 week employment or education outcomes for young job seekers each year in their employment region.
“In addition, there will be two further payments to encourage even higher levels of performance amongst providers. The first is a bonus payment for every 12 week outcome achieved above the performance target and the second is for every 26 week employment outcome achieved.
“The Government considers that this arrangement encourages quality service delivery and minimises red tape for providers while also keeping the focus on results.”
Mr Hogan said the Government is keen to encourage partnerships and consortia arrangements amongst interested organisations to maximise access to services for young people and innovation in service delivery.
“The Government is releasing this Exposure Draft now to help organisations consider the best way to deliver Transition to Work services to young people in our region so as to meet the needs of local employers,” he said.
“In coming months, the Government will conduct a competitive selection process for this new service.
“Organisations will be selected on the basis of their track record in helping young people into work, the quality of their plans to deliver the new service and importantly, the strength of their networks with schools, local employers and other community organisations.
“Organisations are invited to provide feedback now on the proposed model to help inform its final design.”
Details on where to find the Exposure Draft
The Exposure Draft of the Request for Proposal for Transition to Work 2016-20
is available on the Austender website at www.tenders.gov.au. This document sets out in full the details of the new service and the proposed selection process. Comments on the proposed approach are sought by 6 October 2015.
A high-level summary of the proposed model is available on the Department of Employment website – http://www.employment.gov.au/
The Department of Employment will also hold information sessions for the Transition to Work programme in a number of capital cities during September 2015. There will also be two webinar sessions available for those who are unable to attend in person. To register to attend an event visit : http://wired.ivvy.com/event/T2WEXD
