Hume Community Revitalisation Project: Strategic Plan

November, 2017

LA EIC - Disadvantaged Jobseekers Inquiry Submission no. 61 - Attachment 2 Received: 31 July 2019

“What we have found is a lot of times when we have been particularly effective it's not because of our expertise in the employment sector and not because of our connections with employers. It's just because of our ability to actually spend good, quality time with these jobseekers. I think that's what's really missing in the sector. Whether you're newly arrived or whether you come from a difficult background, whether you're in long term unemployment, inter-generational poverty, all of those things, at the end of the day it's always the same thing. What are your individual needs? ”.

- Employment Services Worker

Contents

Executive Summary………………………………………………………………. 4

Introduction ………………………………………………………………….. 6

Part One: Environmental Scan: 7

A region in Flux 9

Employment Service System 17

Implications of the Environmental Scan for the Project 20

Part Two: Project Objectives and What It will Take 21

Need for cohort specific engagement + specialist intervention 23

Learning from Education: Service Integration + pathways 27

Transport + communication underpin shifts in employment 30

Social Enterprise + intermediate labour markets 32

Cycling and Churn will reduce sustained employment outcomes 33

Part Three: Proposed Strategic Activities for the Project 35

Part Four: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities + Threats for the

Taskforce in the Community Revitalisation Project

39

Conclusion 43

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………. 44

The Hume Community Revitalisation Project aims to: “increase the number of people progressing into sustained employment from the suburbs of Broadmeadows, Meadow Heights and Campbellfield” over the next three years. The Hume Jobs and Skills Taskforce will lead the Project, drawing together a strong cross-section of government, business and employment service providers.

This strategic plan for the Project includes an environmental scan, and a strategic analysis of key issues facing the target areas. It identifies gaps, missing links and opportunities in the current service system and provides the foundations for a set of strategic actions through which the Taskforce can achieve the project objectives.

The three target areas share some challenges - lower school completion rates, lower levels of English proficiency, lower levels of internet connection and lower car ownership rates - that all contribute to much higher rates of unemployment, and much greater risks of people cycling from unemployment to precarious employment.

Changes in industry and occupation that are occurring in Hume at both at the macro and micro-economic level have implications for employment strategies in the target areas. Key here is the shift from manufacturing towards community and health services that will require very different focusses on both technical and soft skills.

Hume is a culturally diverse City with the second highest intake of humanitarian settlers for local government areas in Victoria. While changing migration patterns are adding to the cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversity of Hume, the addition of large numbers of humanitarian settlers particularly into the target areas, brings challenges. There is a great deal of research that outlines the barriers humanitarian settlers face in finding and sustaining employment. There is also paradoxical evidence that humanitarian settlers engage in much greater levels of entrepreneurship than other cohorts. Engaging with these challenges and opportunities will be critical in achieving the objectives of the Project.

Housing prices have increased, leading to stress in some parts of the target areas, but also adding to the economic diversity of the communities, and bringing with it some of the opportunities and challenges of gentrification. This has flow-on effects for both demographics of those areas, but also for participation opportunities in local labour markets.

Services focussed on linking jobseekers and employers attract around $80million of Government investment annually into the Hume area. This is distributed amongst 42 providers, and they in turn service around 10,500 unemployed people, of whom 40% live in the Project target areas. The service system is crowded and complex, and is geared towards universal service offerings that do not always meet the needs of jobseekers facing significant barriers to employment. This creates both a challenge and an opportunity for the taskforce to go beyond ‘business as usual’ and to find ways to draw on data, research and insights from stakeholder insights to design and test a broader range of responses through the Community Revitalisation Project.

The Taskforce has a track-record of achievement in bridging the supply and demand sides of the labour market in Hume. This provides a strong foundation for working towards the objectives of the Community Revitalisation Project. The challenges the taskforce will face centre on the ability to build out of this foundation to deepen the cross-sector engagement and integration of employment pathways that will be required if population level shifts in employment outcomes are to be achieved in the target areas.

Much of the current service system is not designed to address the depth of personal and structural barriers that need to be addressed on the supply side (in terms of assisting people with complex issues to enter and sustain employment), despite having ‘disadvantaged jobseekers’ as a key focus. Further, on the demand side, there is a need for more recognition of the changes that business needs to make in hiring practices, and for the level of support required if business is to effectively engage jobseekers who have significant barriers to entering and sustaining connection to the labour market.

There are programs and individual workers in Hume that are effectively bridging this divide between supply and demand in the employment space particularly in relation to the target areas - and they exist both in the mainstream (in providers of JobActive, JVEN and in educational settings), and in more specialist programs (such as the Youth Transitions collaboration). The challenge for the Taskforce will be to harness the strengths of these programs and exceptional individuals within existing programs, whilst also seeking to innovate beyond these initiatives to fill gaps in the service system.

There are five key insights presented in this report that draw together evidence and stakeholder insights and have informed a set of strategic activities we believe will be key to achieving the outcomes set for the Community Revitalisation Project.

Executive Summary

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1. “Local Jobs for Local People” in Target Areas Requires a Focus on More than Jobs, it will require cohort specific engagement + specialist intervention Although there are some broader demographic issues that each target areas face, they are all home to larger concentrations of people who face greater barriers to employment for two key reasons: 1. having multiple and often complex issues and histories, and requiring support on multiple fronts in the process of

becoming work ready. 2. having humanitarian settlement issues. If the Taskforce is to achieve the objectives of the Community Revitalisation Project there will need to be greater levels of engagement with: -services that offer intensive and more sustained vocational and non-vocational support; -services and programs that address issues that have been identified as having major impacts on a person’s employment prospects, such as English proficiency; -programs that offer ‘pathways’ into employment and tailored, integrated services that can support both jobseekers and employers beyond the first few months of employment.

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Integrated pathways can shift outcomes: Learning from Education The significant positive shifts in educational outcomes in the three postcodes over the past decade may offer some insights for the Community Revitalisation Project to consider when developing their programs to address unemployment levels in these areas. Though changing demographics have made a contribution to these shifts, there has also been signifiant intentional work undertaken focussed on: recognising that students require specific assistance and intervention, not merely universal servicing; exploring the importance of ‘school readiness’ and focussing on the importance of ‘transition points’ for children as being a critical aspect of successfully achieving a positive shift in educational outcomes; and building a more integrated support system for children and families in the area, which emphasises collaboration between schools and other services. These changes could inform the strategy adopted by the Taskforce in order to achieve the objectives of the Project.

Transport and Communications underpin employment Access to reliable transport and communications are increasingly considered essential to employability. In the three target areas this represents one of the barriers facing many jobseekers, because of issues of access, affordability and availability both of transport and of internet connectivity. The Community Revitalisation Project should examine how improved access to internet in the three postcodes could support access to training, education and ultimately job outcomes. Further, access to transport is likely to impact jobseekers in the target postcodes. There are currently three inhibiting factors here that could be addressed: access to public transport - particularly east to west linkages; car ownership levels; and license issues for young people and for humanitarian settlers.

Social Enterprise and Intermediate Labour Markets could provide pathways into employment There are a handful of social enterprises in Hume that can provide an opportunity for people with multiple barriers to employment to gain valuable experience, develop employability skills and engage in work routines. Social Enterprise development has not been a priority for the Taskforce to date (though the support for initiatives by the Taskforce is noted) - however in terms of achieving the outcomes for the Community Revitalisation program, some further investigation and investment in such initiatives may be warranted.

Addressing Churn and Cycling will be critical in terms of assessing ‘sustained employment’ outcomes It is increasingly clear that a focus on ‘employment’ and ‘workforce participation’ as an outcome does not adequately indicate whether this actually enables a person or a household to exit the cycle of disadvantage and joblessness. Research demonstrates that for many who face complex barriers to economic participation there is an additional cycle - between employment, precarious employment and underemployment - that often prevents work from shifting circumstances. This phenomena - called ‘churn’ has structural structural origins (as work shifts to more ‘casual’ and part-time contexts and moves towards the ‘gig economy’). Although specific data about churn rates were not available, all the evidence (eg. shifts across time to part-time work) and stakeholder consultations suggest that this is an issue in target communities, and it should be considered by the Taskforce if the objective of ‘sustained employment’ in target areas is to be achieved.

These five insights and the associated recommendations have informed the strategic activities proposed in this plan. Through the Hume Community Revitalisation Project there are opportunities to support a real and sustainable shift in employment outcomes in these target communities and to bring the employment rates down and in line with the rest of the City of Hume. The Jobs and Skills Taskforce is well-suited to lead these significant shifts in employment outcomes.

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Introduction Hume is growing at almost twice the national rate (ABS 2011 + 2016), but it is also changing as the economy restructures, migrants from new parts of the world settle in Hume, and new generations of families move into the regions growth corridor. Hume is a progressive and prosperous municipality, with an abundance of opportunities for employment, education and development. However Hume is also home to residents who are not prospering, and who are less able to take up the opportunities Hume has to offer.

Over the past three decades, pockets of Hume have figured highly amongst the most disadvantaged regions of Victoria and indeed Australia. People living in these parts of Hume often experience higher levels and longer periods of unemployment, poorer educational outcomes and lower scores on significant indicators of health and well-being. Though many people find ways out of unemployment, some parts of Hume have become associated with consistently high levels of unemployment and persistent disadvantage. It is those areas that are the focus for the Community Revitalisation Project, which, over the next three years, aims to:

“increase the number of people progressing into sustained employment from the suburbs of Broadmeadows, Meadow Heights and Campbellfield”.

A great foundation for achieving this aim has been created by the Hume Jobs and Skills Taskforce (the Taskforce), which provides strategic stewardship for planning whole of government and community support to improve employment opportunities for Hume residents and supports businesses in Hume with the provision of an effective labour supply.

This strategic plan will outline some clear ways in which the Taskforce will need to develop alternative and additional approaches to those already utilised if it is to achieve the aim of this project. These include acknowledging that the aim of this project is effectively about shifting employment outcomes in areas that have consistently experienced unemployment levels between twice and four times higher than either the Hume or Greater Melbourne levels for more than a decade.

This plan begins with an environmental scan of the Shire, and more specifically the three target areas of Broadmeadows, Meadow Heights and Campbellfield. This will show that Hume is a shire in flux, with the target areas experiencing significant changes over the past decade but unemployment remaining stubbornly high over this time. The service system is crowded, and skewed towards people who require lower levels of integrated and intensive intervention.

The Community Revitalisation Project has three primary objectives and seven key measures. The second part of this plan outlines five critical strategic factors that will effect both the achievement of the objectives, and the measures used in the process.

The plan then concludes with a SWOT analysis that highlights some of the key strategic issues facing the Taskforce so that it may engage with this project proactively. The final part of the plan also outlines how the Taskforce may breakdown the objectives into key action areas across the three years of the project.

The Community Revitalisation (CR) Project establishes three primary objectives and seven measures.

Objective A: Increase employment amongst the local working-age population • Measure 1: The number of local people

securing employment; and • Measure 2: The number of people

participating in the labour market. Objective B: Increase local labour market demand • Measure 3: The number of new jobs

created within target areas; • Measure 4: The number of business start-

ups established and sustained after 12 months; and

• Measure 5: The number of new jobs filled by people from targeted locations.

Objective C: Improving the systems which match local labour market supply and demand • Measure 6: The number of people with

year 12 or above level qualifications; and • Measure 7: The number of businesses

employing people from targeted areas.

PART ONE: Environmental Scan

Overview

1. Region in Flux:

1.1. Industry + Work

1.2. Housing

1.3. Migration

2. The Employment Service System is

complex + crowded

“The region as a whole should be proactive in ensuring local area hot-spots of long term unemployment by location, occupation and industry are dealt with quickly by targeted programs.” (The Future Workforce: Melbourne’s North, 2015;p. xx).

Figure 1: Unemployment Trends in Hume and Target Areas 2015 to 2017 Source: SALM, 2017

A great deal of research and many reports have been produced both about the challenges and innovative approaches to addressing unemployment in Hume. The Community Revitalisation Strategic Plan report draws on this past research, but also presents analysis that focusses on the specific aims of this current project that could assist the Jobs and Skills Taskforce to develop a work plan that will deliver the outcomes proposed.

The first part of this report reflects on the environmental scan undertaken, with specific reference to the diversity of change that is occurring across Hume, and the current employment service system, and how these impact on the three target areas. The target areas - Broadmeadows, Meadow Heights and Campbellfield - are themselves changing significantly and rapidly. And yet, unemployment remains stubbornly high in those areas (up to four times higher than unemployment across Greater Melbourne, and over twice as high as the rest of Hume).

The changes that are occurring because of economic restructuring and in terms of industry shifts will have implications not only for the demographic structure of the target areas, but also for individual jobseekers in these areas, and for employers looking to hire local people.

Migration, and particularly Hume’s commitment to taking in humanitarian settlers, is also changing the fabric of the target areas, and assisting these residents into employment will be critical to achieving the objectives of the Community Revitalisation Project.

Finally, housing prices and housing tenure have been changing rapidly in the target areas, which creates both challenges and opportunities that will impact on the strategies needed to achieve the objectives of the project.

The second aspect of the environment scan concerns the service system that has been established in Hume to assist both jobseekers and employers. This part of the scan identifies some of the key potentials and challenges that exist in this system in Hume in relation to achieving the objectives of the project. Most particularly this section articulates the need for more integrated, tailored and intensive service offerings designed to meet the needs of both jobseekers facing multiple barriers to employment, and the needs of employers in a changing economic environment.

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Industry Changes and ‘Jobs’ In 2006 manufacturing was the primary employer across the three suburbs, accounting for approximately a quarter of all jobs (22.3% in Broadmeadows, 24.7% in Meadow Heights, 27% Campbellfield; ABS). By 2016, the proportion of those employed in manufacturing had declined to be comparable to many other industries. However, the shift of these jobs to other industries demonstrates differs slightly across the three target areas.

Region in Flux

�9Figure 2: The Changing Nature of Occupations Across the Target AreasSource: ABS, 2011 and 2016

In Broadmeadows the proportion of people employed in manufacturing decreased by 8.8% from 2006-16 (22.3% - 13.5%; ABS). Some of this variance can be accounted by small increases in construction (6.9% - 12.2%) and transport, postal and warehousing (10% -13.2%; ABS) during the same period.

In Meadow Heights, employment in manufacturing decreased by 12.7% from 2006-16 (24.7%-12%; ABS). During the same period, there has been gradual increases in the proportion of those employed in healthcare and social assistance (6.1%-11%) and education and training (4.1%-7.1%;

(6.1%-11%) and education and training (4.1%-7.1%; ABS).

Campbellfield has seen a decrease of 14.7% (27% -12.3%) in the proportion of people employed in manufacturing from 2006-16. However, compared to the other two suburbs, the movement of jobs has been more equally distributed across multiple industries. That said, construction (6.9%-10.4%) and health care and social assistance (6.9-10.2%) are the two that increased their share of jobs the most.

Table 2 illustrates the shifts in occupation that have occurred over the last five years.

The proportion of people employed in full-time (versus part-time) jobs has also decreased across all three suburbs between 2006-2016 (Broadmeadows 53.6%-45.4%, Meadow Heights 55.2%-48.2%, Campbellfield 55.1%-49.7%; ABS). This data suggests that the jobs replacing manufacturing are often less secure, with fewer hours and less pay than the manufacturing jobs in the hey-day of the motor vehicle manufacturing era (see figure 3).

Entry-level Jobs Entry-level jobs can provide a pathway into employment, but increasingly they are competitive and do not always enable progression or result in employment stability. In Hume, common entry-level positions are in retail, transportation, warehouse and manufacturing sectors. Similarly to other parts of Australia, entry-level jobs that require no or limited qualifications and experience are shrinking in number (across Australia they represent only

around 15% of advertised jobs (Anglicare, 2017)).

To get a broad idea of the nature of entry level jobs in the region, we explored the jobs pipeline provided to JobActives in Hume by Jobs Victoria over the course of a week (9th-13th October). This is outlined in Figure 4*.

Of the ‘entry-level’ jobs on offer: • None required formal qualifications or

experience. • All involved travel, so access to a drivers license

and vehicle were almost essential for these jobs • Many of the jobs involved shift work, in addition

to travel, making them inappropriate for single parents with young children;

• None of the jobs were located in Hume. • Just over a third of the jobs on offer were casual

(37%) and almost a third were full-time (32%).

Top 3 industries

11%Food production

16%Rail

45%Construction

80%Require Police Check

80%Require Drug

Testing

5% Supportive to CALD, Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) and ex-offenders

74%Require a Drivers Licence

*Analysis made out of a list of 19 Jobs.

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Figure 4: Analysis of Jobs Victoria Pipeline for the week of 9th to 13th October, 2017 Source: Jobs Victoria (provided by one of the stakeholders from a JobActive provider)

Figure 3: Comparison of weekly hours and incomes across selected occupationsSource: Neville, 2014

An analysis of the list of positions vacant provided by Joblink (Council’s online platform designed to search jobs and post vacancies) in the following week (16-20 Oct) yielded less detail regarding specifications but similarities in terms of industries in which entry-level jobs were offered and the need for access to a vehicle or transport. This suggests the jobs posted on this platform are likely to provide similar challenges for disadvantaged jobseekers as outlined above for the JobActives pipeline.

The 'local jobs for local people' campaign quite rightly highlights that:

“only one third of more than 70,000 jobs in Hume City are filled by local residents and two thirds of the workforce come from outside” (George Osborne, in Local Jobs for Local People, 2017).

This in itself presents a strong rationale for the campaign. However in terms of the current project, what is even more compelling is that many entry-level jobs are currently filled by workers from outside Hume, while there are around 17% of local jobseekers (almost 2,000 people) who have no qualifications or experience and who are actively looking for entry level jobs (JobActive, Anglicare, 2017).

Figure 5 illustrates the breakdown of the numbers of people travelling into and out of Hume for work by occupation. What is clear from this figure is that for the top four occupation groups in the target areas relevant to this plan (Labourers, Machine operators and drivers; Technical and trades, and Community and personal services), there are almost as many people being imported into Hume as there are being exported from Hume to other areas for employment. There would appear to be a great opportunity within this scenario for focussing on reducing the export and import of workers in these occupations in particular, which could potentially have a significant impact on opening up employment opportunities in target areas and achieving the aims of the Community Revitalisation Project.

Changing Migration Patterns

Broadmeadows, Campbellfield and Meadow Heights all have similar proportions of people born overseas (ranging 45%-48%), which are comparatively higher than the proportion for greater Melbourne (34%).

All three suburbs have similar rates of people who have lower levels of English (ranging 14-17%), which are also comparatively higher than greater Melbourne (6%). English proficiency is critical to economic participation and education, and its role in perpetuating unemployment in Australia has been well documented, and was a recurring theme in many of our interviews.

However, in spite of these similarities, there is a high degree of nuance between the three suburbs in the nature of international migration, which is also likely to manifest in differences in the nature of the disadvantage and unemployment experienced and

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Figure 5: Import and Export of Workers Across Occupations in Hume Source: REMPLAN, 2017

disadvantage and unemployment experienced and resulting needs of each area.

Broadmeadows Broadmeadows has a particularly high proportion of new arrivals (31% of those born overseas; ABS, 2016). Compared to greater Melbourne, the suburb over-indexes in the proportion of people from Iraq (5.8%), Turkey (5%), Lebanon (5%), Pakistan (3.7%), Iran (2.1%), Syria (1.6%) and Nepal (1.3%). Many of these people are humanitarian arrivals and are likely to have complex needs throughout the process of achieving employment (see next section). From 2011-2016 the approximate proportion of people from: • Iran has increased by five times (from

0.4%-2.1%) • Pakistan has quadrupled (from 1%-3.7%) • Syria and Nepal has tripled (from 0.6%-1.6%

and 0.4%-1.3% respectively).

Changes in the cultural and ethnic structure of all three target areas are illustrated in figure 7.

There are particularly high concentrations of recent arrivals in the areas bordered by Pascoe Vale Road, Kitchener Street, Western Ring Road and

Merlynston Creek, and the immediate areas surrounding Broadmeadows Central (excluding the Banksia Gardens Estate). These areas are also among those with higher and/ or increasing rates of public housing, housing stress and low income households (>$33,800 p/a). Broadly speaking, these areas also have higher rates of children below 11 years (especially relevant in the areas surrounding Broadmeadows Central and a pocket between Holberry Street and Merlynston Creek). Caring responsibilities limiting parents’ ability to work was a theme through a number of our interviews. Therefore, providing access to childcare and attracting jobs that have some degree of flexibility for working around school hours could remove some some of the barriers preventing economic participation in these areas.

The area of Broadmeadows between Merlynston Creek, Northcorp Boulevard, Sydney Road and Western Ring Road also has a particularly high proportion of people born overseas (71%). However, over 90% of these people have been in Australia longer than 5 years. Their needs are likely to be different to those of more recent arrivals (as described above). Housing stress is also relatively high in this area (23% of households), particularly

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Figure 6: Percentage of Overseas Born People arriving between 2011 and 2016 Source: ABS, 2016

Figure 7: Changing Face of Local Migration: Shifts in Nationalities in Target Areas Source: ABS, 2016

high in this area (23% of households), particularly among those who rent privately.

Meadow Heights

Meadow Heights is also a suburb of high diversity, with 43.6% of people born overseas (33.8% for Geater Melbourne). However, higher proportions of people arrived to Australia between 1971-2005 (55.7% of those born overseas, 40.7% for greater Melbourne). Meadow Heights also has comparatively lower proportions of new arrivals (20% of those born overseas, 23.5% for Greater Melbourne. In spite of having a population that has been in Australia longer, large parts of the suburb have higher proportions of people not fluent in English, compared to many of the regions in Broadmeadows that have high rates of new arrivals. This suggests that previous waves of immigration to the area may not have been adequately supported to learn English, which has had ongoing and significant impacts on their engagement with education and employment.

Campbellfield

Nearly half of Campbellfields population was born overseas (47.5%, compared to 33.8% for greater Melbourne). Compared to greater Melbourne, the suburb over-indexes in people from Iraq (10.9%), Lebanon (8.4%), Italy (5.6%), Turkey (3.4%), Greece (2.2%), Pakistan (1.8%) and Malta (1.2%). Although still a small group overall, the proportion of people living in Campbellfield born in Pakistan has more than doubled from 2011-2016 (0.6%-1.8%).

Figure 9: A Snapshot of the Barriers Faced by Humanitarian Settlers compared with Migrants on other Visa Streams. Source: Migrant CDE Integrated Dataset, ABS, 2011

Figure 8: Percentage of People who have migrated from countries where English is not their first language Source: ABS Census, 2016 �13

“For newly arrived refugees and migrants in Australia, navigating complex and unfamiliar service systems can be enormously challenging. …There is therefore a need for strong coordination, collaboration and governance among service providers, employers, the private sector and refugee and migrant entrants’ communities in facilitating sustainable employment outcomes” (Tahiri, 2017; p.20) .

“What is sad about this whole thing is that

these people, particularly the newly arrived,

they come here and their motivation is so

high. They would do anything to make it work.

Sometimes they just need a bit of help. They

just need someone to spend time with

them” (Employment Service Worker).

Compared to greater Melbourne (23.5%), Campbellfield has a lower proportion of new arrivals (17% of those born overseas). However, the suburb has higher rates of people that moved to Australia between 1961-1980 (25.6%, 17% for greater Melbourne) and 1991-2005 23.6%, 21% for greater Melbourne).

The area between Barry Road, Sydney Road, Gentles Avenue and Dunstan Parade has higher rates of people not fluent in English, as does the area bordered by Salvator Drive, Sydney Road, Western Ring Road and Merri Creek. Again, this suggests previous waves of immigration could have been better supported to learn English, which is also likely to be affecting economic participation in these areas.

Humanitarian Settlers Hume has the second highest intake of humanitarian settlers for local government areas in Victoria (47.3% vs. 9.3% State Average of percentage of migrant intakes that are on humanitarian visas - DHHS, 2017). Between 2011 and 2016 Hume took in around 3,600 humanitarian settlers (Population ID, 2016; AMES, 2016), with the majority of these being born in Iraq (74%) and then smaller number from Syria (8%), Bhutan (6%), Iran (3%) and Nepal (3%) (Davern et al, 2016;p.75).

Of the target areas for this project, Broadmeadows has the highest number of people who have arrived in the last 5 years, with a large number of these being humanitarian settlers from Iraq (see figure 7). Meadow Heights also has a higher number of humanitarian settlers from Syria. It is unclear whether these figures include the cohort of asylum seekers arriving by boat who are on bridging visas prior to being assessed for temporary protection visas.

All the target areas have higher number of people born overseas in non-English speaking countries (see figure 8), with the top three countries across the areas being Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon (except in Campbellfied where the there are also a significant number of older migrants from Italy - ABS, 2016). While there are a signifiant number of humanitarian settler in the target areas from Iraq, there are also a growing number from countries such as Syria. The major languages spoken include Arabic (60%), followed by Assyrian (15%); Nepali (8%); Chaldean (5%) and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic (2%) (Davern et al, 2016;p. 76).

Employment is a critical part of successful settlement, with much research indicating that it underpins many positive outcomes both for the present and future generations. Employment has significant benefits for humanitarian settlers:

“It helps refugees stabilise their housing, establish local connections, gain skills, improve their English and build social capital” (Centre for Policy Development, 2017;p.11) .

Yet, across Australia only around 17 percent of humanitarian settlers are employed after 18months in Australia (CPD, 2017), and of those who do achieve employment, over a third are in low-skilled and precarious occupations such as labouring.

Figure 10: Percentage of People with Low levels of proficiency in English Source: ABS Census, 2016 �14

There are a number of barriers that humanitarian settlers face in relation to employment when compared with other migrant groups. Humanitarian settlers are:

- more likely to have issues with English proficiency, literacy and numeracy;

- more likely to have not completed school and not have post-school qualifications;

- often have experienced trauma, which can have impacts on mental health, thinking processes, ability to deal with change and stress, and physical well-being;

- often less likely to have good social connections with people outside their communities - people who can help them with access to employment opportunities (given that research suggests that 74% of migrants have help from friend or family to find their first job (ABS, 2016)).

Although the employment outcomes are often challenging for humanitarian settlers, research also suggests that they:

“display greater entrepreneurial qualities and reported a higher proportion of income from their own unincorporated businesses and this income increased sharply after five years of residency.(ABS, 2015; Personal Income Tax and Migrants Integrated Dataset (PITMID))”

Recommendation:

The Community Revitalisation Project should develop approaches that directly engage with the employment barriers faced by the growing number of humanitarian settlers living in the target areas. While there are settlement services located in Hume and in the target areas, employment remains problematic and will not be adequately addressed by services that do not take into account the specific barriers faced by many humanitarian settlers.

Figure 15 in the next part of the report outlines responses that have been demonstrated to work to create positive outcomes for humanitarian settlers, and the taskforce should consider how they can support both existing service providers and explore new responses that align with and test this

evidence in the local context.

Housing: Prices, Stress + Implications for Participation

Housing and labour market participation are intertwined in different ways, and shifts in housing prices and tenure will have localised implications for both the concentration of disadvantage and participation rates (AHURI, 2016). Further, research

Figure 11: Potential implications of increasing house prices Source: Insights; Whelan and Parkinson, 2017; AHURI, 2016.

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participation rates (AHURI, 2016). Further, research demonstrates that:

“housing and housing markets play an important role in facilitating the efficient operation of the labour market” (Whelan and Parkinson, 2017;p 1).

Cost of Housing The broader cost of housing is increasing across Hume and the target areas, but the impacts are distinct and localised within each suburb

Differences in the current context of housing are apparent between the three suburbs: • Meadow Heights has a comparatively higher

proportion of mortgage holders, with some pockets of social housing.

• Broadmeadows has both concentrated pockets of social housing and higher rates of private rental in some areas

• Private Rental is particularly prevalent within Campbellfield, where there is less social housing, but cheaper private rentals.

Within Broadmeadows, Campbellfield and Meadow Heights, house prices increased respectively by 58.3%, 43.4% and 38% between 2011-2016 (RP Data via realestate.com.au). This is consistent with the number of new housing developments being constructed within these suburbs.

Median weekly mortgage and rental payments have also increased between 2011-16 across Broadmeadows and Campbellfield (between 23-28%), although not to the same extent as house prices. However, rent prices increased in Meadow Heights by only14% in the same period, while weekly mortgages have decreased by 6%. Rental stress (where households in the lowest 40% of incomes, are paying more than 30% of their usual gross weekly income on rent) is higher in all three target areas and highest in Campbellfied, where 42% of renters are experiencing rental stress (ABS, 2016).

Housing Stress These changes in mortgage and rental payments, however, do not mirror changes in the experience of housing stress. Although rates are higher within each of these suburbs (compared to greater Melbourne), since 2011, housing stress has: • Decreased across much of Meadow Heights

(possibly because of stabilisation of rents) • Remained relatively stable (or increased

slightly) across most of Broadmeadows/ Campbellfield

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• Increased significantly in the area SE to the Banksia Gardens Estate (Broadmeadows) - which is now at 46% of the population experiencing housing stress (possibly due to increases in rents across the area).

This variation in the experience of housing stress is one indication that each of the postcodes face some specific and distinct issues (discussed in more detail later in this document).

Gentrification and it’s impact on concentrations of disadvantage The gentrification of certain areas is likely to push certain groups out of these areas, particularly those who are reliant on private rentals, potentially shifting the localisation and concentration of disadvantaged within each suburb. For example, from 2011-2016, Campbellfield and Meadow Heights have had similar proportions of people who had moved house in the last 5 years (approx. 25% & 29% respectively). However, this has increased for Broadmeadows (from 29% - 36% during the same period).

Gentrification may increase economic diversity in the target areas, but it may also have unintended consequences for the local labour market, with home owners more likely to commute across town for jobs, and private renters more likely to move out of areas in order to access jobs (Whelan and Parkinson, 2017). This will have consequences for the strategy adopted by the Taskforce in this project.

Recommendation:

As the cost of housing pushes people in and out of the three suburbs, changes in localised statistics (for better or worse) are likely to reflect changes in the movement of people as much as changes in the nature of disadvantage that people experience. Therefore, being able to track people’s outcomes as they move will enable the Project to distinguish between the degree to which statistical changes can be attributed to the movement of people or changes to the experience of disadvantage. When reporting on outputs and outcomes from the Project it will be important for the Taskforce to track, in whatever ways possible, where people taking on employment opportunities reside within the City of Hume (ie. how many jobs are taken on by people living in the target areas).

Similarly, the Community Revitalisation Project should explore interventions that minimise the degree to which concentrated ‘pockets’ of disadvantage are created as a result of demographic changes over time.

The Employment Service System is complex + crowded

There are a myriad of services focussed on addressing unemployment and disadvantage in Hume. Many of these services are connected either directly or indirectly to the Taskforce, and as such this collaboration creates a solid foundation for ensuring that the service system can align around the objectives for the Community Revitalisation Project.

Services focussed on linking jobseekers and employers attract around $80million annually of Government investment into the Hume area. This is distributed amongst around 42 providers (see figure 12), and they in turn service around 10,500 unemployed people, of whom 40% live in the target areas for this project. This investment overview does not include all the other ‘feeder’ services that

ensure that people have the best chance for employment (eg. education and training providers), and which are therefore critical to achieving outcomes.

Five core issues were identified in our scan of the service system that should be considered by the Taskforce:

1. The service system is skewed towards universal services that largely assume that people are work ready and focus on matching jobseekers with employers seeking workers;

2. Most services speak about addressing the needs of ‘disadvantaged’ jobseekers, but few offer the intensive and tailored services that is required for jobseekers who face signifiant barriers to finding and maintaining employment;

3.The service system is crowded, complex, difficult to navigate and poorly integrated from the perspective of both jobseekers and employers. Most responses to this focus more on information sharing and coordination and less on navigation and integration;

4.Most programs are based on ‘outcomes’ that are largely transactional, based on the achievement of employment. If there are, however, to be population shifts in target areas based on employment outcomes, then some attention also needs to be paid to the more ‘transformational’ outcomes that will ensure that people do not cycle back and forth from unemployment to precarious employment;

5.Though there are a handful of social enterprises in Hume, there are few ‘intermediate labour market’ options that could provide a training and support pathway for jobseekers who face significant barriers into employment to gain both experience and

�17Figure 12: A Snapshot of Investment into Employment in Hume Source: ABS, 2016; SALM, June Quarter; Data provided by HCC

“The problem is that the funding is …built around …

boxes that are ticked. We've done this and this with

this person; therefore, we get this funding this

way”. (Employment Service Worker)develop employability skills;

6. Engagement of employers is patchy. Few services have the capacity to focus significantly on developing ongoing connections to employers to the extent that occurs in the Council’s Employment Partnership team. Further, intensive support to employers who take on more jobseekers who may have face signifiant barriers to gaining employment is often limited to subsidies and follow-up meetings

These issues will make it harder to achieve the objectives of the Community Revitalisation Project unless they are intentionally named and specific strategies are put in place to address them through the Taskforce. The naming of these issues is not meant to detract from the good work that is happening both in the Taskforce and amongst the individual organisations that make up the Taskforce. However, stakeholders did identify to us that too

often great outcomes happen because exceptional individuals within organisations go above and beyond their roles to engage effectively with jobseekers who face significant barriers - and that this means those outcomes are the exception to the rule rather than being the core business of all providers and all organisations.

Identifying, understanding and learning from the pockets of work that are going on in Hume that have great potential to shift outcomes in the target areas could be a key role that the Taskforce takes on.

Though every employment service provider has assessment criteria which determine the level of service provision a jobseeker is eligible for, we also

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Figure 13: Despite all providers engaging with ‘disadvantaged jobseekers’, some programs are more specifically designed to offer the intensive support required to assist those with significant barriers to employment Source: Various, JobActive, DOE, JVEN, Interviews

Case Study: Pathways out of unemployment require ‘joined-up’ approaches One of the cohorts of people facing significant barriers to employment is people with a criminal conviction. Only around 5% of jobs we examined in Hume were open to supporting ex-offenders. We did, however, also find an innovative program inside one of the JobActive providers (CVGT) that was engaged in supporting people with criminal convictions and/or who were involved in the criminal justice system, into employment. There was some concern, however, that programs such as this were at risk of losing funding at the time this work was undertaken. The importance of this work is highlighted in the following story told by the employment support worker:

Andrew was …about 19 at the time, and he walked into Centrelink and he said, “I need help to get a job. Can somebody help me?” … They know me well because I run across the road over there. They sent this young boy over here, and I said, “Okay, what is your story?”

At about 14 years old he was on the street, his mother had overdosed, and his father was shot dead in a drug deal. He lived with his grandmother for a while, he and his brother, then went off the rails, had problem with drugs for many years. But when he walked in the door to me, he was drug-free. He had put himself through rehab, he had lived in a car for a long time and he wanted a job. He was now semi-stable and wanted a job. I said, “Okay. I’m happy to help you with a job, but what else is going on with you right now? You’ve got your accommodation sorted, you’re drug-free. What else? You’ve got no skills, no qualifications, no work history, all that we can deal with, what else is going on?” He said “Well one of the things that is going on which is really stressing me out, is I’m constantly being chased by the Sheriff.”

I said, “Why?” He said, “Because when I was homeless and on drugs, off parking my car anywhere, and I’ve got about $7-8,000 of outstanding of fines.” Those outstanding fines had now been converted to warrants and they chased him here. So, even if I put him into work, his car is going to be impounded any minute… so… I’m going to get him a job and then he is going to lose it when he loses his car.

So I said, “Okay, this is not my area of expertise and so. …I walked next door to (the lawyers office) and I knocked on the door, and I said, this is the young man. The lawyer then says to me, well because he can prove that he was on drugs, that he did seek assistance, that he was seeing a psychologist and a psychiatrist, that he put himself through rehab, we can make an application to the courts to get all of those fines revoked under special circumstances.… We put in that application, that $7000 was wiped, so he was now free to go to work, to go to work every day, to keep his car and all of that.

From there that boy has now moved, out of public housing, has got two kids, he’s married, he’s got a full-time job. Has never re-offended. By default, the first job that we got he ended up loving. The fact it was outdoors, it gave him that freedom of not being boxed in, he probably wouldn’t have suited an office job. He loved it, he got a qualification and he is now raising two kids”.

found that many providers are not equipped or too busy to deliver intensive support directly, which means that jobseekers are often referred to a multitude of other services, or the support offered is limited and cursory. Some of the service providers we interviewed acknowledged that their workers had caseloads of around 120 jobseekers, and this understandably limited what they could do to support individuals.

As figure 13 above outlines, what is needed is a more nuanced segmentation of what support different jobseekers require, and what the intensity of that support should include. The figure also identifies the core service offerings of different programs that are designed to meet the needs of particular cohorts of jobseekers. As can be seen from the diagram, though programs like JobActive and JVEN identify that they work with ‘disadvantaged’ jobseekers, they are not specifically designed to directly offer the types or intensity of supports that are needed for some of the cohorts of jobseekers that are more prevalent in the target areas. This by no means implies that they do not offer some level of support, only that they are often not designed nor structured to focus on the range of supports needed for jobseekers who may be facing complex barriers to sustained employment.

There are certainly a number of programs in Hume that offer much more intensive support (such as the Youth Transitions Program), and it is recommended that the Taskforce build further partnerships with these programs in the course of this Project.

“There's lots of community agencies working here. Services are formally available, but that doesn't mean that those services are reaching the people who need it the most. …But the issue is that quite often, the people who need it the most don't know about those services. Also … a lot of those agencies are not in a position to be able to (do) outreach”. (Employment Services Worker)

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What are the implications of the environmental scan?

There are a number of key implications that the environmental scan raises for the Community Revitalisation Project:

1. The changes in industry and occupation that are occurring both at the macro and micro-economic level have implications for employment strategies focussed on target areas. A shift from the dominance of manufacturing towards community and health services will require very different focusses on both technical and soft skills. The rapid growth of employment opportunities in the latter industry mean that ‘soft skills’ (interpersonal skills, empathy, attitude, team work and self-management) in particular will be critical for all jobseekers. Further, the shift towards greater casual and part-time work opportunities needs to be considered in light of the potential implications this has for jobseekers from disadvantaged backgrounds potentially cycling between unemployment and precarious employment. These issues will be addressed in the next section.

2. Hume has made a significant contribution to resettling migrants from areas that have been subject to conflict and disaster. The city has provided both refuge and new opportunity to migrants for many decades. Though the types of employment on offer for migrants in the current environment are significantly different today than it has been in the past, there are many local learnings that can be applied to ensure that settlers reach their potential in their new country. Some of these could become important for the Taskforce in the context of preconditions to achieving outcomes in this project - such as reducing the gap that currently exists between the target areas and Hume more broadly in terms of English Proficiency, and ensuring that humanitarian settlers have opportunities to gain relevant local experience. There are likely to be nuances/ differences in the nature of

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challenges/ barriers faced between recent migrants (i.e., arrived within last 5 years) and those who have been here longer. Therefore, the Taskforce may want to consider and act with intent around how it attempts to help migrants (humanitarian or other), taking into account how long they have been in Australia. These issues will be further explored in the next section.

3. Given the intersections between housing and employment, the target areas are likely to experience significant shifts over coming years as Melbourne expands out, and as these areas experience housing price increases and a degree of regeneration and potentially gentrification. This is likely to effect particularly Broadmeadows, but there are also signs that Meadow Heights is already experiencing some effects of both investors and home owners changing the demographics of the area. Historically Greater Melbourne has experienced a movement of pockets of disadvantage outwards over the past three decades. This is likely to occur in Hume also. There are already signs that as housing prices increase in the current target areas, people are moving further out (though still in Hume LGA). So both being aware of this movement of people in terms of tracking outcomes, and being mindful that other pockets of concentrated unemployment may emerge over time will be important for the Taskforce to consider.

4. The service system in Hume has evolved over time in response to different policy and programmatic intentions. It is skewed towards ‘job-matching’ services, and generally works well for those who are work-ready and employable, and less well for people who have complex needs or require more intensive or integrated support. The target areas are home to around 40% of people who are unemployed in Hume, and many of these people face multiple barriers to achieving and sustaining employment. This challenge will be explored further in the next section.

PART TWO: The Objectives of the Community Revitalisation Project and what it will take to achieve these

1. What it will take to improve outcomes in the target

areas

1.1. Cohort-specific engagement + specialist

intervention

1.2. Learning from Education Outcome

Improvements - integrated pathways

1.3. Addressing Internet + transport disadvantage

1.4. Enterprise + intermediate labour markets

1.5. Focus on stable outcomes rather than

transactional outcomes (avoid churn)

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The innovative and collaborative approach taken by Hume in addressing unemployment has led to significant gains in creating jobs and in attracting industry to Hume as a whole. This is of great importance given that the unemployment rate in Hume is almost double that of greater Melbourne (SALM, 2017). The LGA of Hume has some demographic and structural issues that contribute to this higher unemployment rate - for example:

- a higher percentage of people not having completed school, and not having completed post-school qualifications;

- the second highest rates of humanitarian settlement across Victoria’s LGAs, with many settlers having some difficulties in obtaining employment;

- mental health issues and reported levels of psychological stress are higher , with some reports suggesting it represents 21% of the region’s disease burden (Hume City Council, 2015).

Based on the environmental scan and the information listed above, the second part of this report presents a framework with evidence that supports our recommendations to achieve the Community Revitalisation Project’s objectives.

There are five subsections in Part Two that describe insights gathered from data and stakeholder interaction: 1. Cohort-specific engagement - how the solid

foundation created by the Jobs and Skills Taskforce could be augmented in this project with more specific interventions focussed on the target areas and cohorts within these areas;

2. Learning from education outcome improvements - shifts in educational outcomes in the target areas have been substantial. They have been brought about through intentional engagements with children and their families, and integration of educational pathways, particularly for more disadvantaged students;

3. Transport + Communication underpin shifts in employment - in all the target areas there are particular disparities focussed on transport and communications, which in turn have potentially significant implications for educational and employment outcomes;

4. Social Enterprise + Intermediate Labour Markets - some cohorts in the target areas face significant barriers to employment. Opening pathways that enable people to build work readiness skills, confidence, work

routines, and gain valuable work experience could present opportunities to grow employment outcomes in target areas;

5. Cycling and Churning. In the target areas there are indications that it is not only unemployment that leads to poor outcomes, but also poor attachment to the labour market, which means that often people cycle between unemployment, precarious employment and underemployment. Working to reduce this cycling or churning will be important to ensure that the outcomes generated are sustainable over time.

The insights and recommendations outlined in this section will inform the activities proposed to assist the Taskforce to achieve the three primary objectives and seven measures that underpin the Community Revitalisation Project.

Local Jobs for Local People in Target Areas Requires a Focus on More than Jobs: Cohort specific engagement + specialist intervention

Most people who experience unemployment in Hume are unemployed for a relatively short period of time. Less than a quarter of those who are unemployed are going to experience longer-term unemployment between 12 to 24 months and over (DOE, 2017). In Hume the average duration of job search for anyone who is unemployed is around 45.5 weeks (with Greater Melbourne being around 33.6 weeks) (ABS, September, 2017).

For the majority of people in Hume, then, the work that is undertaken by the Hume Jobs and Skills Taskforce and the Hume Council through the Local Jobs for Local People programs will reap significant results. However, the current activities in and of themselves are unlikely to result in population level shifts in unemployment in the three target areas of Broadmeadows, Meadow Heights and Campbellfield without significant additional focus on the specific factors that create additional barriers for many jobseekers in these areas.

As outlined in the environment scan, in the three postcodes of relevance to this plan the unemployment rate is up to five times higher than it is for greater Melbourne (SALM, 2017) (see figure 1). If the Jobs and Skills Taskforce are to make similar employment gains in the specific areas as they have in Hume overall, then it is important to understand what particular issues face people in these locations and within different cohorts of residents in these localities.

Though they each have specific characteristics, the three target areas share some features that contribute to higher levels of unemployment. What is clear, however, is that together these characteristics are going to mean that traditional mechanisms to reduce unemployment in these areas are not going to be as effective as they may be in areas where greater numbers of people do not experience such significant barriers to finding and sustaining work.

Local Jobs for Local People, and the coordination work undertaken by the Jobs and Skills Taskforce is undoubtedly important to the Hume region and has been recognised as innovative and impactful.

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However the Taskforce should not assume that this work alone will shift unemployment rates in the three target areas.

Further, existing employment programs and other stakeholder organisations and businesses all play a role in creating outcomes within the target areas. However as outlined in the environmental scan, they too are not going to be fully effective without attention to and responses which address:

- the specific individual, structural and demographic issues and barriers facing jobseekers in these areas;

- the movement and flows of people in and out of these areas;

- the cycling of people in an out of unemployment and precarious employment that seems particularly prevalent in the target areas;

- the integration of services to prevent people from falling through the gaps between services or becoming lost because the service system is difficult to navigate.

That said, the Taskforce has solid foundations in place to address unemployment in the target areas. What is needed now is focussed attention to targeted strategies that will ensure that objectives of this project can be achieved.

Differences between the three target areas, and between different cohorts of jobseekers The three target areas each have some unique challenges and demographic characteristics that need to be considered if changes are to be made in employment rates in each area. These include: - a higher number of people who have not

completed at least year 11 of schooling; - a higher number of people who have no post-

school qualifications; - higher numbers of people who have low

proficiency in English; - more single parent households; - higher concentration of low income households,

which can be a consequence of unemployment but also can contribute to contagious unemployment issues

- Higher number of households that don’t have a car

- High relative number of households that don’t have an internet connection.

The area in the middle of the below map (which includes Dallas) also has many of these characteristics, and the Taskforce should consider including this area in the program.

Although there are some broader demographic issues that each target areas face, they are all home to larger concentrations of people who face greater barriers to employment for two key reasons:

1. having multiple and often complex issues and histories, and require support on multiple fronts in the process of becoming work ready.

2. having humanitarian settlement issues.

Other groups that were identified as having particular difficulties included:

- people with low level English proficiency

- people who have criminal records or who have recently been released from prison.

- single parents with no school or post-school qualifications

- young people who have disengaged from school

- young people who are neither in school / training nor in employment

Beyond demographic cohorts there are number of characteristics and features which seem to occur across groups that create employment barriers. The OECD (2017;p51) has recently identified a number of facets that characterise joblessness, and poor attachment to the labour market in Australia:

- Employability: which includes low levels of skills and experience, health limitations (including mental health) and care responsibilities;

- Motivation: which includes lack of financial incentives, but also psychosocial motivation factors;

- Opportunities: when the opportunities in the labour market are thin or offer only precarious options

If the Taskforce is to significantly shift outcomes in the target areas directly engaging with these facets

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If the Taskforce is to significantly shift outcomes in the target areas directly engaging with these facets will be critical.

Figure 14 outlines the representation of some of these cohorts in the current JobActive case load in NorthWest Melbourne (more granular figures for Hume or the target areas are not available). From these figures it is clear that JobActive and other employment service providers in the region have a range of challenges to overcome.

There is a great deal of research in the region and across Australia that argues for tailored and personalised support for jobseekers facing these significant barriers. Figure 15 outlines some of the issues faced particularly by people facing complex barriers, and humanitarian settlers, and what works, according to evidence, in connecting these cohort (which are both over-represented in the target areas) to employment. If, however, as we discovered in the stakeholder consultations, it is correct that caseloads in some JobActives in Hume are up to 120 people, then it becomes clear that tailored approaches are often not possible within mainstream services as currently constituted. In this case the Taskforce should examine or test alternative programs with organisations who engage directly with these cohorts.

While the Taskforce cannot hope to fill all the gaps in service system, it has more opportunities than most networks to promote and model the integration of services and to directly engage service providers in trialling greater levels of support for jobseekers in target areas.

Figure 14: Some characteristics of people on the JobActive case load in North West Melbourne employment area Source: Labour Market Information Portal, 2017

Recommendation:

Most employment services are designed for the vast majority of people who are unemployed for relatively short periods of time, and who require basic levels of support to help them to re-engage with the labour market. In the target areas for this project the barriers people face to engaging and sustaining connections with the labour market are more substantive. If the Taskforce is to achieve the objectives of the Community Revitalisation Project there will need to be great levels of engagement with: - services that offer intensive and more sustained

vocational and non-vocational support; - services and programs that address issues that

have been identified as having major impacts on a person’s employment prospects, such as English Proficiency;

- programs that offer ‘pathways’ into employment and tailored, integrated services that can support both jobseekers and employers beyond the first few months of employment.

Based on the available data, the attributes or features of the community members are very similar across Broadmeadows, Campbellfield and Meadow Heights (e.g. low levels of English proficiency, high school disengagement and high concentration of low income households). These features are also a common denominator in Dallas (3047), so we also recommend that the Taskforce consider including this area in the Community Revitalisation Project strategy.

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Figure 15: Issues faced by Disadvantaged Jobseeker Cohorts in Target Areas - and evidence that highlights what can work to reduce barriers to employment

In the three postcodes relevant to this report there are a higher concentration of people who have not completed Year 12 or equivalent (see figure 16). This has, however, shifted significantly over the last ten years, with Broadmeadows in particular showing significant increases of people completing year 12 or equivalent. Some of this change can be put down to a greater diversity of people moving into the areas, but there are also intentional efforts that have been made by stakeholders to shift educational outcomes in these areas and in Hume generally.

It also needs to be recognised that the concentration of humanitarian settlers in particular areas will mean that the statistics for school completion and post-school qualifications can be skewed due to the fact that many humanitarian settlers may not have completed school, and up to 63% may not have post-school qualifications (see figure 9 on page 13).

The significant positive shifts in educational outcomes in the three post-codes over the past decade may offer some insights for the Community Revitalisation Project to consider when developing their programs to address unemployment levels in these areas. The shifts, according to both research and stakeholder insights have come about due to the following factors:

1. Recognition from key stakeholders (eg. Local and State Governments, primary schools and secondary schools servicing those postcodes) that students require specific assistance

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Figure 16: Percentage of People over 15 who have completed Year 12 or equivalent Source: ABS Census, 2016 and 2011

and intervention, not merely universal servicing (eg. teachers trained in trauma informed practice; greater engagement of parents in the school). This has resulted in significant improvements in educational attainment in the region. For example, at Mt Ridley College in Craigieburn (which services the target areas) the first group of Year 12 students graduated in 2014 - and in this cohort a third of these graduating students were the first members of their families to achieve this level of education.

2. Focussing on education as a ‘life-cycle’ issue, starting from before children go to school and continuing across their educational experiences. Therefore exploring the importance of ‘school readiness’ and focussing on the importance of ‘transition points’ for children as being a critical aspect of successfully achieving a positive shift in educational outcomes in the area of the past decade.

3. Building a more integrated support system for children and families in the area, which emphasises collaboration between schools and other services (see for example, Centre for Community Child Health, 2017)

Integrated pathways can shift outcomes: Learning from Education

Implications for Integration of Employment Services

In families and communities where there is persistent unemployment and there are complex barriers to people achieving and sustaining employment, the issues that require an integrated response need to be both personal and structural. There is no shortage of research that argues for the importance of integrated pathways towards employment from various points in the cycle of disadvantage (see for example, OECD, 2017; Bodsworth, 2010; Duffy, 2010; Perkins, 2007) - see figure 17.

The challenge has been to make it happen in practice within a funding environment that does not encourage long-term strategies, and in which it is easier to compete than to cooperate when it comes to transformative outcomes for the most disadvantaged jobseekers. The Taskforce has good foundations for challenging the norm, and for promoting integrated responses. However if it is going to do so there will need to be more diverse services included in the membership of the Taskforce (because the outcomes for target communities require integration of other non-vocational services); and a vision of integration that includes not just enhancement of employability of the target population, but also an approach that challenges the fragmentation of services, and includes challenging the practices of employers in the region, particularly when it comes to hiring practices and employment conditions that can perpetuate disadvantage amongst people who face challenges to achieving and maintaining employment.

What is clear from examples around the world about ‘what works’ to address persistent unemployment, is that it requires the collaboration of people, services and employers. If any network can begin to transform outcomes in the target areas it should be the Taskforce. However ‘business as usual’ without a focus on integration and intensity of action will not create the necessary shifts.

Recommendation:

The Community Revitalisation Project should consider the learnings gleaned from shifts in the educational outcomes of children and young people in the target areas (and in particular in those three postcodes) and how these could be applied in relation to shifting the employment outcomes in those areas. In particular, these include how the project could:

- focus more specific support and assistance for jobseekers in these postcodes;

- focus greater attention to ‘work readiness’ and ‘employment transitions’ for people living in the

“We just finished a round of recruitment. It is very competitive, and we can’t focus on whether someone is local or not, it all depends on whether they fit into the team and can do the work. You have to be very personable, as we are customer focussed. The people who were successful came from all over - I am not sure how many are local. Not many I think. It’s not really something we consider” (Employer - Retail)

Figure 17: Persistent and long-term unemployment is often connected to other issues, both in terms of leading to these issues and being complicated by them Source: DSS; BSL….

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- focus greater attention to ‘work readiness’ and ‘employment transitions’ for people living in the target areas;

- ensure that services and the support system for jobseekers in the target areas are as integrated and coordinated as possible to reduce both churn and the possibilities for people falling between the cracks of service provision;

- focus not only on shifts in employability of jobseekers and integration of services, but also on the changes that might require cooperation from employers, with particular attention to hiring practices and work conditions (see figure 18).

There may also be value in developing and testing ‘family’ approaches to addressing unemployment, as there appears to be households in the target areas where either multiple members or even generations are experiencing unemployment, and where the highly individualised models of employment support may not be effective.

Figure 18: Integration requires the engagement of all parts of the employment system, and should not just be focussed on increasing employability of jobseekers

Transport + Communication underpin shifts in employment

that he knew many of the students without internet connections in the home used the Global Learning Centres to access the internet, and that this had a positive impact on their learning. A number of interviewees suggested that more access points for internet in key areas (particularly for the three target postcodes) would enhance people’s learning and job seeking activities. Linking internet access points to facilities like cafes could also offer benefits (one stakeholder mentioned that since the Craigieburn Global Learning Centres’ cafe has closed young people are staying in the this facility for less time).

Recommendation:

The Community Revitalisation Project should examine how improved access to internet in the three postcodes could support access to training, education and ultimately job outcomes.

Transport Access Residents of Hume are currently highly dependent on private vehicles for transport to access work opportunities. Currently around 60% of the residents of Hume work either in the LGA or in neighbouring regions (Hume Council, 2016). The vast majority of working residents (75%) travel to work via car (as either a driver or passenger) or other private vehicle (eg. motorbike) (ABS, 2011).

Access to reliable transport and communications are increasingly considered essential to employability (see for example Ma et al, 2016). In the three target areas relevant to this report this represents one of the barriers facing many jobseekers, because of issues of access, affordability and availability both of transport and of connectivity.

The Importance of Internet Access Recent research in Australia has suggested that access to internet in the home is increasingly important as an access point to education and employment opportunities (see Thomas et al, 2016). Further, this study found that:

“Australians with low levels of income, education and employment are significantly less digitally included” (p. 5)

and that this in turn has led to a ‘digital divide’ which affects particular groups and geographies. This ‘digital divide’ is evident in Hume, and particularly in the three target areas.

As seen in Figure 19, households in Broadmeadows and Campbellfield are particularly disadvantaged when it comes to having internet connected to their homes. This inequality of access could contribute to both lower educational and employment outcomes in these areas, and / or could limit opportunities. This could have significant impacts for both young people and for jobseekers in these areas, as research has demonstrated that:

“narrow, infrequent, and unskilled internet engagement, leave(s) (people) ill-equipped to keep pace with technological change (and) redefines economic, social and cultural participation” (Smith, 2013; p.171).

During stakeholder interviews the importance of Hume Council’s Global Learning Centres in Broadmeadows and Craigieburn was mentioned in relation to addressing this digital divide. A high-school teacher who was interviewed commented

Figure 19: Percentage of households with home internet connections Source: ABS Census, 2016 �30

The Hume area has been identified as having between average to below minimum service in terms of public transport accessibility (SNAMUTS, 2014). Along the train lines accessibility is strongest, and if employees are using public transport to get to work then the North-South route is best covered. The more difficult routes are East-West, which reflects a Melbourne wide difficulty. Bus routes in the target areas are variable - with the best routes offering access to key interchange areas every 20 minutes (eg. route 541 in Meadow Heights) and the worst offering 45 min to hourly services (mostly in and around parts of Campbellfield).

For the purposes of this report, the key issue that links transport to reducing unemployment in the target communities relates to the fact that car ownership in these areas is lower than in the rest of Hume. This is particularly the case in Broadmeadows, where 13% of households have no car (see figure 20). Though there are plans in Hume to extend some transport routes and access particularly to the employment growth areas around the airport, delays in this development will hamper efforts to reduce levels of unemployment in the target areas, as these are currently minimally serviced (SNAMUTS, 2014; Scheurer and Curtis, 2016). It may also be important to examine issues such as young people’s access to driver licence training in the three areas, because it has been demonstrated that jobseekers from low-income areas, and humanitarian settlers can be disadvantaged in terms of access to drivers licenses (not just expense, but not having access to someone who can help them to get up the hours needed to transition from learners permit to provisional to full license). There is currently a P2P program running through the HWLLEN, though the waiting lists for the program are significant.

A number of stakeholders also identified that losing a license is a major issue for young people in the

target areas, and this is reflected in police statistics regarding motor vehicle offences. With 494 vehicles impounded in 2016, Hume has the highest rate of impounding for offences such as driving without a license or under suspension, excessive speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs and evading police (Victoria Police, 2016). Broadmeadows and Campbellfied have been identified as areas that rate highly in terms of such offences (Victoria Police, 2016). Loss of license for hooning or an offence of driving without a license can result in the inability to apply for jobs that require a license, significant fees plus a criminal conviction, both of which can significantly limit a person’s ability to find and sustain work.

Recommendation: Access to transport is likely to impact jobseekers in the target postcodes. There are currently three inhibiting factors that could be addressed and this could contribute to improving outcomes (see figure 21):

- access to public transport - particularly east to west linkages, and in the near future, access from the target areas to job growth areas near the Melbourne airport;

- car ownership levels - particularly in Broadmeadows

- license issues for young people and for humanitarian settlers, both in terms of getting a license, and maintaining a license in an environment where there are some apparent barriers to both.

Whilst there are plans for greater integration of transport in the region, that will provide benefits for jobseekers in the target areas, there may be value in examining options or undertaking more detailed evaluation of transport disadvantage as a factor in contributing to high levels of

unemployment.

Figure 20: Numbers of Cars per household Source: ABS Census, 2016

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Figure 21: Transport Disadvantage in Target Areas is more complex than lack of access to public transport

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Social Enterprise + Intermediate Labour Markets

There are a handful of social enterprises in Hume that can provide an opportunity for people with multiple barriers to employment to gain valuable experience, develop employability skills and engage in work routines. Although the Federal Government has increasingly moved away from a focus on pre-vocational skill training (and more towards ‘work for the dole’), the development of social enterprises in the intermediate labour market (ILM) space (see figure 22 for understanding the key characteristics of ILMs) represents a critical opportunity for the Taskforce to assist in shifting outcomes for people in the target areas.

Social Enterprises with a focus on developing employability skills in target areas include:

- Enable: IT Recycling, who have engaged around 140 participants from target areas in developing skills in e-waste management (www.enableaustralia.org.au);

- Common Bean Cafe: a social enterprise initiative led by Banksia Gardens Community Services (http://banksiagardens.org.au/).

There are also other initiatives such as the Cafe in the Broadmeadows Global Learning Centre (Bookmark 3047) which offers training support (via Kangan Institute and with the Hume City Council). One of the key insights that came from stakeholder interviews concerned the need for more opportunities for people in target communities facing

“There's nothing preventing those contracts (public housing maintenance) going to social enterprises who employ only local people (that is, from housing estates). We're talking about jobs that don't require a huge amount of skill and jobs that could be done really well. And also, there would be an ownership aspect as well. We know that when local people are helping to build something over here, they're also going to be looking out to make sure that there's no graffiti, that there's (no vandalism). It's almost a no-brainer.” (Specialist employment provider)

signifiant barriers to employment (particularly humanitarian settlers) to ‘learn’ on the job, and obtain relevant work experience. Social enterprises offer such opportunities, and have been demonstrated to have much more effective outcomes than work-for-the-dole programs (see for example, Borland, 2014). There are opportunities within Hume that could provide potential contracts accessible through the Victorian Government’s commitment to social procurement (eg. the maintenance of the 2000 public housing homes across Hume).

Social Enterprise development has not been a priority for the Taskforce to date (though the support for initiatives by the taskforce is noted) - however in terms of achieving the outcomes for the Community Revitalisation program, some further investigation of and investment in such initiatives may be warranted.

Figure 22: Key characteristic soft successful Intermediate Labour Market Programs Source: Mestan and Scutella, 2007;p. v

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Cycling + Churning will reduce sustained employment outcomes

Focusing on figures or indicators like unemployment or economic growth can encourage a two-dimensional view of the economy. Either conditions are improving and businesses are creating new jobs or things are worsening, firms are letting workers go and unemployment is increasing. The reality for many who face significant barriers to entering and sustaining employment is, however, much more complex and nuanced than this.

It is increasingly clear that a focus on ‘employment’ and ‘workforce participation’ as an outcome does not adequately indicate whether this actually enables a person or a household to exit the cycle of disadvantage and joblessness. Research demonstrates that for many who face complex barriers to economic participation there is an additional cycle that often prevents work

from shifting circumstances. This is the cycling between employment, precarious employment and underemployment (see figure 23). This is a phenomena that has both structural origins (as work shifts to more ‘casual’ and part-time contexts and moves towards the ‘gig economy’). It has variously been referred to as ‘work-welfare cycling’, ‘low-pay, no-pay cycle’ and the ‘churning trap’ (see McTier and McGregor, 2017).

Unfortunately it is the case that current ‘outcomes’ results of employment services in Australia do not bode well for people facing multiple barriers to employment:

- while just over a quarter are reported to be ‘employed’ at the 3 month follow up point, only

Figure 23: The churn between unemployment, precarious employment and underemployment is thought to be significant in target areas

10% of this group are in full-time employment, while the rest are employed in part-time or casual positions;

- Almost three quarters (73.8%) remain unemployed or ‘not in the labour force’ at this 3 month point. (DOE, 2017).

This is exacerbated by employment programs and services that focus on short-term, work first approaches, that emphasise fast placement rather than matching of people into sustainable or stable employment (McTier and McGregor, 2017;p. 9). For humanitarian settlers this is further complicated with requirements to take jobs that do not enable people to use existing skill sets, to stop taking language classes to start an entry level job and circumstances where people have remained in the program for years as they take on short-term employment contracts and move jobs constantly. (Refugee Council of Australia, p 8, 13).

“I was with Jobactive for 4 years … I wanted an IT job as I have overseas qualifications and experience in IT as well as Australian recognition. I have all the job seeking needs; a good resume, overseas recognised qualifications and experience, but I only need 3 weeks of local Australian work experience in IT web design as I completed a diploma with TAFE, but they [Jobactive] refused to help me. So, I went back to study at TAFE and changed to Austudy so I didn’t need to go to Jobactive.” (Ibid, 8)

People with multiple and often complex issues and humanitarian settlers who search for a job in a market that offers jobs but not necessarily long-term nor the most suitable ones, are exposed to constantly changing job positions and the costs associated with them. Data about the target areas shows that there are increasing rates of part-time employment in each area, and stakeholder consultation suggests that the churn rates in the region are high. Unfortunately, despite efforts to elicit more specific data about churn rates this was not available or accessible.

Recommendation:

Despite numerous attempts and avenues to find data about churn rates specific to the target areas this is not currently publicly available (though researchers from the Department of Employment are confident that it may be available in early 2018). So, it is recommended that the Taskforce tracks and measures the duration of employment, nature of employment and elicits any evidential data about churn rates throughout the project. If the measurement of churn rates confirms this hypothesis, then it is recommended that the taskforce seeks to focus, wherever possible, on generating employment outcomes that enable people in the target areas to break out of cycles of disadvantage rather than merely focus on transactional job outcomes.

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PART THREE: Proposed Strategic Activities to be developed over 3 years

In this section, we outline a series of activities

that stem from our recommendations and align

these with the Community Revitalisation Project’s

overall vision and the three primary objectives.

The ordering of these activities, and their

integration will need to be developed through the

work plan the Taskforce develops for the Project.

Vision: “increase the number of people progressing into sustained employment from the suburbs of Broadmeadows, Meadow Heights and Campbellfield”.

Objective A: Increase employment amongst the working-age population

Measure 1: The number of local people securing employment

Measure 2: The number of people participating in the labour market.

Focus Activities that will assist in increasing the number of local people (from target areas) securing employment:

- Reducing import and export of workers particularly in occupations where entry-level positions could be filled by jobseekers from target areas (eg. Labourers, Machine operators and drivers; Sales; Technical and trades, and Community and personal services)

- Support the development / set up of Intermediate Labour Market programs and social enterprises that focus on creating pathways for people from target areas

- Engaging settlement agencies working with humanitarian settlers more closely in the taskforce to ensure that employment opportunities are front of mind in the settlement process

- Work with industry and employers to develop strategies that could prototype methods and mechanisms for recognising existing skills of humanitarian settlers

- Work with employment service providers and other community service organisations to promote and develop opportunities for more intensive and longer-term support (vocational and non-vocational, pre- and post- placement) for jobseekers from target areas who experience significant barriers to employment

- Focus wherever possible on developing opportunities for stable and sustainable work to ensure that work offers a pathway out of disadvantage in target areas

Focus Activities that will assist in increasing the number of people (from target areas) participating in the labour market:

- Raising English Proficiency both for new humanitarian settlers, and potentially for older residents of target areas who remain unemployed due to poor proficiency and/or literacy;

- Developing more opportunities for jobseekers from target areas to develop employability skills - and for employment services and employers to engage proactively in this process in order to ensure that jobseekers from target areas have the best chance for building networks with and being exposed to local employers;

- Undertaking projects that provide greater internet access to people and households in target areas, so as to support education and job search opportunities in target areas;

- Support existing programs (such as P2P) and test new ideas to support both humanitarian settler and disadvantaged young people to attain their drivers license (and avoid losing it) in order to enhance opportunities to participate in the labour market

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Objective B: Increase local labour market demand

Measure 5: The number of new jobs filled by people from targeted locations.

Measure 3: The number of new jobs created within target areas.

Measure 4: The number of business start-ups established and sustained after 12 months.

Focus Activities that will assist in increasing the number new jobs created within target areas

- Harness opportunities from increased housing prices and the resultant demand for more infrastructure in relation to new job opportunities

- Focus employer engagement around some of the shifts in occupations in target areas, particularly in relation to community and personal service

- Link the development of transport infrastructure in Hume City (refer to Councils’ transport plans) to opportunities for job creation and job access in and around target areas

Focus Activities that will assist in increasing the number of business start-ups established and sustained after 12 months

- Harnessing the insights and evidence that suggests that humanitarian settlers have a higher rate of entrepreneurship by offering local opportunities for new arrivals (and those who have been here a little while longer) to explore possibilities for starting their own businesses

- Examining methods for attracting and /or establishing social enterprises with a focus on intermediate labour market programs into the target areas

Focus Activities that will assist in increasing the number new jobs filled by people from target locations

- Focussing on supporting existing programs and testing new ideas for how to address transport disadvantage, licensing challenges and loss of licenses in target communities to ensure that people are able to access emerging job opportunities in and around Hume (particularly towards the airport)

- Closely examine existing infrastructure (eg. public housing) in the target areas to support procurement and contracting opportunities for employment of local people

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Objective C: Improving the systems which match local labour market supply + demand

Measure 7: The number of businesses employing people from target areas

Measure 6: The number of people with year 12 or above level qualifications

Focus Activities that will assist in increasing the number of businesses employing people from target areas:

- Working with employers and employment services to generate innovative approaches to ensuring that hiring practices are screening jobseekers from target areas in rather than out;

- Continue to work with employment services and employers to increase awareness of jobseekers from target communities - and build engagement around the benefits of hiring locally, and the benefits of shared value creation

- Working with employers and employment services to develop innovative ways in which the prior experiences and existing skills of humanitarian settlers can be demonstrated and acknowledged by local businesses

Focus Activities that will assist in increasing the number of people with year 12 or above level qualifications:

- Building on the achievements in this arena over the past 5 years, support the pathways, coordination and integration processes established in local schools and colleges - and spread these both into post-school educational institutions and into the employment services arena

- Developing means for more people in target areas to access internet to ensure that they have greater educational opportunities

- Build on the work undertaken in Hume to inspire young people to engage with higher education and therefore complete their schooling (see programs undertaken as part of the Better Futures, Local Solutions program)

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PART FOUR: SWOT

In this section we present the Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that we

have identified in relation to the Taskforce

achieving the outcomes set out for the

Community Revitalisation project. They are

drawn from the analysis provided in this strategic

plan and our knowledge of the taskforce work to

date, membership and structure. They should

be revisited by members of the Taskforce as the

work plan is developed.

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Notes about Strengths:

The Taskforce’s 5-year history of operating means that it: • Has a history of relevant work it can learn

and draw on in developing future actions and policies

• Knows how the council and local area operates, including what the key and necessary levers are for enacting change

Because the Taskforce has autonomy over community revitalisation budget, it is able to

make decision relatively free of external influences. This also enables the Taskforce to undertake more impactful actions beyond what might otherwise might be restricted by programmatic funding constraints.

The Taskforce’s relationships with local employers, service providers (e.g., JobActives and JVENs), and other community stakeholders linked to jobs and skills (e.g., schools and training organisations) enables it to influence and advocate for change among multiple actors in the system.

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Notes about Weaknesses:

The current membership of the Taskforce heavily consists of individuals whose fields of expertise are related to ‘jobs and skills’ and while this expertise will remain central, a diversification of membership into adjacent fields (eg. non-vocational support and funders of these services). For example, the Taskforce may consider including members from the following groups: • Community members who could provide

more ‘‘on-the-ground’ perspectives (i.e., from various community/ cultural groups that live and operate in the area)

• More organisations or services working in or based in Meadow Heights and Campbellfield (Broadmeadows is currently over-represented within the membership)

The absence of a formal monitoring, evaluation and learning framework may limit the Taskforce’s ability to track towards outcomes, inform future strategies and improving overall outcomes.

The current region-wide focus (if Hume is considered a large area or region rather than a singular ‘place’) can mean that attempts to implement a more place-based approach within the target areas could be diluted by a wider focus. This could potentially detract from the nuances and complexities that exist for specific cohorts, within each of the suburbs, who experience more significant barriers to employment than most.

The focus of the Taskforce on jobs creation and employment does not currently actively focus on the cycling of people between unemployment and precarious employment.

Notes about Opportunities:

The Taskforce has potential to actively increase the diversity of its membership, both among those identified above (under weaknesses) and with those from services who have potential to grow opportunities and provide integrated responses (e.g., settlement, mental-health services).

In conjunction to its current job-focus, the Taskforce has potential to develop platforms that provide more integrated pathways for disadvantaged jobseekers, especially in relation to addressing work-readiness through, for example, Intermediate Labour Market programs.

Educational levels have increased significantly in Hume, particularly in Broadmeadows, over the past 5 years. Therefore, the Taskforce has an opportunity to explore and learn from how this has been been achieved, and to apply and adapt these learnings towards improving economic participation.

The increase in housing prices and resulting increase in homeownership is likely to further grow diversity in the Hume area and change the nature of the labour market in and of itself. Therefore, the Taskforce has an opportunity to take advantage of and influence the nature of this change. Furthermore, given home owners are more likely to travel further distances to work (compared to those who do not own their own home) the concept of ‘local jobs for local people’ becomes even more important for the area.

The Taskforce has potential to become more nuanced concerning which industries and occupations it attempts to attract to the three suburbs towards providing more stable opportunities for disadvantaged job seekers. In this sense, opportunity exists to have greater foci on the retail industry, labourers and machine operators - these industries and occupations have similar numbers of people that live internally and work outside Hume, and live externally and work in Hume.

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Notes about Threats:

Progressing with a mindset of ‘business as usual’ will limit the Taskforce’s ability to enact real change in the target areas. Given disadvantage has existed in these areas for decades, alternative actions and approaches to what has previously been attempted will be necessary in achieving this change. Taking an innovations approach, and testing new approaches rather than merely backing existing programs will be important in achieving outcomes. Luckily Hume has a long history of innovation that it can draw from.

The nuances between the three suburbs and the cohorts that populate them suggest that achieving widespread impact from singular, unilateral actions will be difficult if not impossible. Therefore, responding to particularly disadvantaged cohorts will require specific, tailored approaches. Prototyping provides a mechanism for designing such approaches through its ability to embrace complexity, emphasis on testing over planning, and involving jobseekers, employers and service providers in the design of future responses to disadvantage.

Acting from an assumption that ‘disadvantaged jobseekers don’t want to work’ establishes a mindset that prevents the transformative change and outcomes necessary to address disadvantage in the region.

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Conclusion The City of Hume has an innovative approach to reducing unemployment through partnerships and collaborations that work towards positive outcomes. Through the Jobs and Skills Taskforce, service providers, government, employers, businesses and community organisations have come together to tackle the challenges of high levels of unemployment in Hume, but also to harness the opportunities that exist within a growing local economy.

The demographics and economic fabric of Hume are changing rapidly. Industries are restructuring. Migration patterns are changing the diversity of people who live and work in Hume. Higher house prices and new developments have also brought change to Hume, and plans for more development, infrastructure and business diversification will continue to transform the city over coming years.

Yet there are challenges within this changing landscape. There remain pockets of significant disadvantage in Hume, and some areas, such as those examined in this report have some of the highest rates of unemployment in urban Australia.

This report has provided an overview of the issues facing these target communities and also explored key ways in which data, evidence and insights from stakeholders point towards ways in which those issues could be addressed. There are precedents in these target areas which show that significant shifts can be made in outcomes - with school completion rates having improved significantly over the past decade.

There are opportunities to support a real and sustainable shift in employment outcomes in these target communities and to bring the employment rates down and in line with the rest of the City of Hume. The Jobs and Skills Taskforce is well-suited to lead these shifts in employment outcomes. It has a history of action, leadership and coordinated approaches, but also a commitment to innovation and real impacts. What is needed is not a ‘business as usual’, ‘more services’, ‘more resources’ approach. Achieving the objectives of this Project will require taking risks and exploring and testing

innovative responses that bring people, services and employers together to find pathways towards sustainable outcomes. Through this Project the Taskforce has the opportunity to create a legacy in the target areas that will ripple through to the rest of Hume. It will not be a simple task, but is one that we believe the Taskforce has the capability and commitment to undertake.

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