The Australian Government has put in place extensive measures to support jobs growth, by offering support to employers, and immediate help for people who have lost their jobs because of the economic downturn. Keep Australia Working and the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan are two of the lead initiatives working alongside Job Services Australia to help you keep your job and build future prosperity in Australia.
If you are worried about losing your job, you should know there will be immediate support available to help you, including:
- Fast support from Job Services Australia – people who have lost their jobs will get help that meets their needs straight away
- Apprenticeship opportunities – people who have lost their jobs now have more access to pre-vocational support and training through the Australian Apprenticeships Access Program
- More training places – the Productivity Places Program now offers more places for people to train in areas where job opportunities currently exist
- Help to build your basic skills – people who want to build their skills in reading, writing and maths can do this through the Language, Literacy and Numeracy Program
- Help to keep your savings – the Australian Government has changed the rules so that if you have savings, you don’t have to spend them all before you can get income support while you look for a job
- Help if your employer is unable to pay redundancy entitlements – help is available if you have lost your job because your employer has entered into bankruptcy or liquidation and has insufficient funds to pay outstanding entitlements
- Child Care assistance – if you have lost your job and are having difficulty meeting child care costs you may be eligible for the Special Child Care Benefit
- Redundancy entitlements – if you have recently lost your job and believe you have not received the entitlements you are owed you may be eligible for help through Fair Work Australia.
If you are made redundant from work in the automotive manufacturing or textile, clothing and footwear industries you may also be able to access extra support through labour adjustment packages.
Support to help employers keep their staff
The Australian Government is helping employers to keep their staff, with support to retrain staff, build basic skills and keep apprentices on.
This includes:
Support for you in the workplace
The Australian Government has established an independent umpire, Fair Work Australia to oversee Australia’s workplace relations system. Fair Work Australia is a modern accessible body. Its focus is on providing fast and effective assistance for employers and employees.
Fair Work Australia has the power to vary awards, make minimum wage orders, approve agreements, determine unfair dismissal claims and make orders on such matters as good faith bargaining and industrial action, to help employees and employers resolve disputes at the workplace.
There is also an inspectorate headed by the Fair Work Ombudsman. The Fair Work Ombudsman provides employers and employees with a one-stop information and advice service on all aspects of workplace relations, which can be accessed by visiting fairwork.gov.au or by calling the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94.