Statement by Tony Nicholson, executive director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence
February 8 2007 - The Australian Bureau of Statistics
unemployment figures announced
today
show that most of us have benefited from the unprecedented prosperity
that this country has seen for more than a decade. However, a
significant minority has been left behind.
The explanation lies in the fact that our social policy lags far behind
the economic reforms that have contributed to generating strong
economic
growth: financial deregulation, competition policy, workforce
deregulation.
While the official seasonably-adjusted unemployment rate is a low 4.5
per cent, when you take into account the unemployed and the
underemployed we have a labour force underutilisation rate of about 11
per cent.
It's also worth pointing out that the fall in January to 4.5 per cent
reflects a lower participation rate rather than more people finding
jobs. Some 3,600 fewer people were employed in January, while another
9,400 unemployed people moved out of the workforce altogether.
Not only individuals and families have been left behind but whole
communities. Disadvantage is concentrated on the outskirts of the big
cities and in rural communities. Five per cent of postcodes account for
a quarter of all unemployment.
In the decades ahead, maintaining prosperity will largely depend upon
improving workforce participation and bringing those who are out of the
economy into the economy.
Our approach to welfare has changed little from the safety net approach
that seemed to serve us well when we had a closed economy. The task of
welfare was to maintain a minimum income during the period before an
unemployed person slipped relatively easily back into the workforce.
The demands of the new economy for skills and for education means those
lacking in these areas now find it difficult to find jobs and build
careers.
All that welfare reform has added in recent times is a punitive sting.
It's a safety net without bounce. It doesn't assist the disadvantaged
to
gain the skills to get a job and to go on and get a better job.
In the new economy welfare must not be just about income maintenance
for
the disadvantaged, but about building their skills for employment.
Our approach to welfare should be more oriented towards investing in
people's capacity to contribute to wealth creation and to benefit from
it, rather than the current remedial orientation.
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