With unemployment at around 5% in Australia, there is much talk of ‘full employment’ and a focus on skills shortages. Yet, the fact remains that well over 2 million Australians are unemployed, under-employed or on disability benefits and many hundreds of thousands are capable but have little prospect of moving into secure employment under the current support arrangements.

In this considered yet bold paper, Lisa Fowkes examines the tumultuous twenty year history of policy change and experimentation in employment services. Ms Fowkes brings an insider’s perspective, having for many years been a key figure with Job Futures, an extensive national network of community-based employment services.

Lisa Fowkes’ essay concludes with a compelling call to end the ‘tweaking’ that has characterised change in the employment services and, for the benefit of all, to embark upon the substantial reform needed to provide the unemployed and underemployed with the dignity, security and opportunities to which they are entitled.