The case for an employment policy

Presented by:

Hon Jenny Macklin
Deputy Oppostion Leader and Shadow Spokesperson for Employment and Education

Deputy Opposition Leader Jenny Macklin delivered the first in a series of public policy lectures being organised by the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) at the University last month.

While in Newcastle, she also held discussions with CofFEE about their research on the causes, persistence and costs of unemployment; met with ALP members; and attended a forum with local people experiencing long-term unemployment.

"I have certainly been exposed to a range of views and experiences but there has been one constant," Ms Macklin said. "All have made a compelling case for policy change."

In her lecture Ms Macklin presented the case for an employment policy.

"In January 2002, seven percent of the Australian labour force was unemployed. The picture becomes bleaker if we consider that hidden unemployment and underemployment are both substantial. CofFEE has estimated that in 2000, 19 per cent of our willing labour resources were in various states of underutilisation or underemployment.

"In Australian society the value of employment transcends the weekly pay cheque. Having a decent job is intimately connected to our sense of self, our engagement with society, our health, and the choices available to us. In the end, it is the social divisions that emerge in the absence of an effective employment policy that may impose the greatest costs of all."

Ms Macklin said she was confident that the current policy review being undertaken by the Labor Party will help the Opposition to develop answers, which will move Australia towards full employment, reduce inequality, and enhance the nation�s collective wellbeing. She thanked the researchers from CofFEE for the contribution they have made to this process.

"It is a contribution that flows from both the calibre of your research and your willingness to engage in vigorous public debate," Ms Macklin told the lecture audience.

Director of CofFEE, Professor Bill Mitchell, said the lecture was timely with recently released employment figures for regional areas showing that the Hunter region's unemployment rate has risen to 11.3 percent. The figures highlight the need for a revision of Federal Government thinking on labour market policy, he said.

"Since 2000 the region has lost 15 percent of its employment and nationally, the labour market continues to decline. Overall there are now 690,000 unemployed persons, who on average have been without work for more than 50 weeks."

The Government's main policy initiative in this area, the Job Network, is in tatters, with the Senate Estimates Committee finding that around 50 percent of the long term unemployed using assistance under the Job Network are recycled through it, Bill said.

"The unemployed can not search for jobs that aren't there," he said.

(Photo Left to Right: Martin Watts, CofFEE Deputy Director, Jenny Macklin, and CofFEE Director Bill Mitchell)

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