From welfare to work in the Tamar Valley: building skills into employment programs for disadvantaged job seekers

'Welfare to Work' was introduced by the Australian Government in 2005 to fill the increasing number of skills gaps that were emerging in the Australian economy. The focus of Welfare to Work has arguably been on work first, skills later. This focus may leave employers and employees vulnerable when labour market conditions change. There are however examples of innovative programs that address both skills and labour market needs. One such program, run by Youth Futures Inc has evolved over a number of years and is based in Tasmania's Tamar Valley. It draws on a pool of disadvantaged job seekers and physically takes them to where jobs are. Youth Futures acts as a Job Placement Organisation and in conjunction with a local [registered training organisation] RTO helps workers gain formal qualifications while they gain work experience in agricultural, horticultural, viticultural and forestry industries. Benefits result for both employers and employees as otherwise unskilled people become increasingly useful for employers and employees gain accredited qualifications. The paper outlines how Youth Futures makes this program happen. It builds on research conducted by one of the authors for [the National Centre for Vocational Education Research] NCVER on the issue of 'Welfare to Work' and provides a local context for the learnings from this project.

Published abstract.

A list of the presentations from this conference may be found at TD/TNC 93.551; available papers are indexed from TD/TNC 93.552 to TD/TNC 93.571. Show less