Since the 1990s, Australia, like other OECD countries, has deployed active labour market policies (ALMPs) to assist unemployed individuals into employment. ALMPs are supply‐side interventions in the job market, whereby state promotes the employability of citizens instead of propping up labour demand through other mechanisms. This article argues that a reorienting of ALMPs towards the demand side is urgently required and proposes a blueprint to take this forward.

Extant scholarship in economics and other disciplines demonstrates the limitations of ALMPs, particularly for individuals who are long-term unemployed and with multiple, complex barriers to employment. Critiques hinge on the limitations of the predominant supply-side approach focused on case management and preparing individuals for employment without accounting for the behaviours and practices of the demand-side (employers).