r/JobProvidersAus

Hey everyone I was just wondering if you know how to calculate when my jobseeker payment would be officially cancelled / when the 28 day period would be up?

On the 31st of July I got a letter in my Centrelink app saying my payment was stopped from the 24th of July because I did not go to or was late to an appointment arranged by my provider and I have 28 days or my payment may be cancelled.

For the past 3 months I was just ignoring these and my payments automatically restarted around the 20 day mark, and i could report as normal.

I was just meeting my points target by applying for and recording jobs.

Will my payment still rectify itself or will i need to get in contact?

Thanks for the help everyone.

I'm 65, female, ex-childcare educator, don't have a car. Had my initial interview last Thursday and yesterday the jsp sent me an sms with a link to a job offer:

Forklift/Cargo Handler at Brisbane airport. Must have car and forklift license, can pass police & medical checks, be fully vaccinated.

If I were to apply for this job off my own bat I'm sure they would refuse to give me the points for it as I'm not qualified for it. But since the jsp sent it to me am I actually meant to apply for it? Can WFA knock it back for points since the JSP sent it to me?

Not provider specific, but I have been consistently applying for jobs for 3 years.
Both online (including all the ai generated interviews, video submitting etc).
I always include cover letters.
I’ve been going out weekly and handing out resumes, I know I could be doing that more frequently.
I am also studying (certificate III in retail) and have been volunteering for over a year and a half because I didn’t previously have retail experience.
My resume has been updated twice by my provider, even though there is nothing new to add or change at this point.
And keep getting pushed to do warehouse or cleaning work, (which I can’t do because of an old shoulder injury) or at home call centre work, which I also can’t do, because I live in a 1 bedroom unit and cannot kid my partner out of the house for hours a day, when he owns the unit.

I’ve had 2 interviews in the last 3 years.

I get that retail is hard to get into.
I get that hundreds/thousands of other people are applying for the same jobs.

I moved from the country to somewhere busier, hoping it would be easier.
I am now engaged to the love of my life and want us to be able to have the future we dream of, but I need a job for that.
I needed a job 3 years ago.

I just don’t know what else I can do at this point.
I am sad and tired and just completely over the constant rejections or no contact at all.

Was on centrelink yonks ago and had an online provider, now on it again and they said im with a f2f provider, can i get this changed? I told them i dont have a car so im not able to get there, they said to call workforce aus.

Had an appointment with APM today and walked out absolutely pissed off.
I went in knowing I’d missed reporting one job application for the fortnight. Fair enough, I missed it and I’m happy to take responsibility for that.

But straight away the woman I saw started going on about how I need to be looking for work and how I’d missed my target. The way she spoke to me honestly made me feel like she thought I was sitting on my ass doing nothing.

I am looking for work. I apply online, but I also physically go into businesses with my résumé and cover letter and introduce myself. I currently have a casual job as well.

She then brought up that I missed my appointment last week, which I’d already apologised for when she rang me that day.
During that phone call last week, she also mentioned that I hadn’t been keeping up with my study. I told her I was interested in doing a course that would allow me to serve alcohol at venues. She told me they wouldn’t do that, but said they could look at getting me into some volunteer work instead.

I said okay. She told me she would have a look and get back to me.
So today I asked her about the volunteer work.

Her response?

“It’s not on me to help you look for volunteer work. You have to do it yourself.”

That annoyed me because she was the one who offered to look into it and said she’d get back to me.

Then the manager came over and the subject of my study came up.
This is another thing that has seriously pissed me off about APM.

When I originally signed up for the study, I specifically told the manager I didn’t want to do it. It was online study, and I told her I’m terrible with online learning.
She told me I had to undertake study to meet my obligations.

I specifically asked her whether it was actually a requirement or whether she was just suggesting it.

She told me it was a requirement.
So I agreed because I thought I had no choice.

Then, at the END of that appointment, after signing me up, she basically told me:
“Also, it isn’t part of my KPI for you to undertake study, so you didn’t actually have to do it.”

I was furious and just left.
Today she basically denied that she ever forced me to study.

I told her, “You told me it was an obligation. I specifically asked you whether I had to do it.”

She disagreed and dismissed the whole thing, so eventually I just said, “Whatever.”
Then she started telling me again that I need to meet my obligations.

I said, “I know. That’s why I’m here.”
She asked what jobs I’d applied for and I said they should be on the computer in front of her.

But the conversation kept coming back to this one missed job application, like I’d spent the entire fortnight doing absolutely nothing.

Eventually I said:

“You guys are hopeless. Every job I’ve ever gotten, I’ve gotten on my own and not with the help of you guys.”

Her response was basically that if that’s how I feel, I can go down to Centrelink, tell them I don’t want an employment provider anymore and they’ll take my payment away.

I told her that just because I think APM has been useless at actually helping me find employment doesn’t mean I’m refusing to meet my obligations or saying I don’t want my payment.

She then told me:

“It’s not our job to look for jobs or volunteer work for you. That’s your responsibility.”

And that’s what I don’t understand.
Obviously I know I’m responsible for looking for work. I’m the one applying for jobs. I’m the one walking into businesses. I’m the one writing cover letters and handing out résumés. I’ve managed to get jobs myself.

But if an employment provider’s response is essentially, “It’s not our job to help you find jobs or volunteer work”, then what exactly am I going there for?
I’m completely fine with them saying, “You missed one of your obligations this fortnight, make sure you meet it next time.”

What pissed me off was being spoken to like I’m doing nothing, having one missed application treated like some massive failure, being told they’ll help with something and then being told it was never their responsibility, and being told study was compulsory only for that to later be denied.

Has anyone else had experiences like this with APM or another employment services provider?

How long would I need to be off of jobseeker before job network grace period resets?

I’m currently on jobseeker and have been with my job network for about 2 years now and not too get into it to much, but its surprisingly stressful.

I’m wondering if anyone knows how long I need to be off jobseeker (completely cancelled) before the pre job network grace period resets?

I have really bad anxiety and have been struggling to attend appointments for the past year,

ideally I'd like to cut my jobseeker off and not obtain any payments until a time I can reapply and just do self service for 12 months like at the beginning when I first applied.

I have been receiving Jobseeker for just over twelve months. Recently I enrolled full time at Melbourne Polytechnic to do a Certificate IV Training and Assessment to increase my employment opportunities. It initially appeared on my reporting page in Workforce and I entered my hours for the fortnight. Now it has disappeared and I have job search and points and appointment obligations. I am 60 and was told that this is an approved course at an approved institution that will fulfil my obligations.

I called my branch but my new case manager has left. I have had four new case managers in three months. They all leave. My AKG branch has now removed my course from my obligations and have given me a compulsory appointment for tomorrow. They would not listen to my reasoning when I called. They insisted I am being reviewed and must attend or will be cut off.

This is so stressful. They are so dodgy. They have made me attend stupid budgeting workshops, eating healthy seminars, job application skills classes while all the time I am not required because of my course attendance. I have job search and points targets, which I have been achieving until my obligations stop but they never do.

I am 100% convinced that with the astonishing high staff turn over and their refusal to stop keeping me on as a regular standard Jobseeker client are signs they are working their branch metrics.

What area of Centrelink should I contact to firstly get help having my account changed to what it should be, and secondly, to report this branch and hopefully encourage DEWR to investigate AKG. Surely they must be in breach of contract conducting their operations this way.

UPDATE: As advised by several helpful folks here, I called DEWR this morning and they seemed reluctant to believe me and told me to discuss my concerns with the AKG branch. I really pushed to create a complaint and they really pushed back.They said the role of the service provider is to keep me job-ready and they have every right to force in-person engagement on a daily basis if they see fit to do so, regardless of any study I am undertaking. I was told if my study is my priority then I shouldn't be on Jobseeker and should talk to Centrelink about moving to Austudy.

I finally managed to force a complaint to be entered after really pushing for it, but I am not confident what was entered was accurate and true to my perspective.

Not a very satisfying or helpful outcome. I will now try Centrelink complaints line to see what they say.

Hi, i have an appointment with a job provider for a first time. I’m on job seeker but i already have a job (casual job). To be honest i’m going because my hours is not stable and i want my payment to continue but should I tell then that i have a job? Is there anything i need to know? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

Trying to hit my 100 points for the month under the Points Based Activation System (PBAS). My job search target is set to 40 points (4 jobs), so I need another 60 points.

I’m doing some free micro-credentials and short online safety courses. Does anyone know how many points Workforce Australia usually allocates for these?

Ok, so I have my first appointment on Friday (yay :P) and just wanted to confirm a few things. I know I will be asked to sign a bunch of forms (this is for regular WFA btw), so I don't need to sign the privacy consent form of the Company with their logo or the WFA privacy consent form? (the one with part a-c)

Thanks for any help! :)

Hi everyone, I received a message from Workforce Australia today saying “after a few months in Workforce Australia Online you need to do an activity to meet your activity requirement.” I just wanted to know from others who have done any of the activities, what’s the whole process like? I’ve seen a few online courses that go for like 25 hours a week over a couple weeks. Are they relatively straightforward? Would appreciate any insight!

Hey guys, I'll try keep this short as possible without leaving out the main details.

Have been with a job provider coming up to 4 weeks now, in initial face to face discussed what roles I am looking for etc, what I need to get started and all of the rest of it for the initial appointment.

We then discussed my leave from the area to which I gave her the dates of me going, which is this saturday coming 22nd August, until 12th September. Due to my grandfathers declining health, so my mother and I will be down there to spend time with him. (He is in hospice now, doctors unsure how long he has.) Knowing all this, my job provider accepted all this information as is and agreed to hold off in finding me employment until my return date. Which was very considerate and kind of her. Fast forward to second apt, and we just more or less went over the same things and talked about the mutual agreements again and all was seemingly well. Fast forward again until today, she has given me a call, today (sunday) and has told me that suitable work has now come up for me and her "employer" is desperate for staff. Quickly tried to get off our agreement we had from when i return from visiting a dying family member. To which i was cut off and she basically laid down the law and rules of being with a job provider. Has told me now that I MUST agree and have a face to face meeting with said workplace that is desperate for employees or else she will have to mark me as turning down suitable employment and my payment will be cut, next sunday is my next payment, and that unfortunately is my rents worth of dole money. So it stresses me out that she has dropped this on me last minute after originally agreeing to give me time to get these family circumstances sorted. I am to have another appointment with her this coming tuesday.

What are my options, what can I do? Is calling centrelink and going over my provider the best course of action?

The only thing else she has suggested to me that would be of some help is trying to get a "Extreme family circumstance exemption" which if I cant get within my one day before our appointment she cant mark me as exempt from applying to this job she has found. or to change my provider to someone else as this will give me 2ish weeks to work with whilst im away (im not sure how true this is, and I feel like she has said this to just boot me off of her case load.)

Hi there,

I've been on Jobseeker 8 months now, about 6 of which I was studying a full time cert 3. That was tough financially. I was previously working in admin, then support work fields and burnt out with both. It feels like I can't go back to either, and I'm now stressed and frustrated with myself because I don't want to do a low level cleaning or hospo job either. Not to mention I'm not having much success with those kinds of applications anyway, probably because I'm too qualified in other areas? More than anything I just want a kind patient person to help me see my strengths and help with my self confidence and self-esteem which I seem to have lost a lot of, despite being 32 years old and way behind where I want to be in life. For that reason I'm considering switching from online/self managed to an in person provider, of which there's only one anyway I think in the town I currently live in.

Is this a bad idea? Are they actually helpful?

Thankyou

I’m on job seeker applying for jobs. One job asked me for my job seeker id number and if I have one. Should I actually put it down or not. It is an advantage or disadvantage to put your job seeker ID number ? Thanks .

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on how to break into the Australian tech industry.

I finished my Master of Data Science at RMIT last year, and I’ve now been searching for a job for about a year without much luck.

My background includes:
- Around 3 years of freelance Data Engineering experience with 4 clients
- Around 1.5 years of experience as a Web Designer
- A 3-month internship during my final semester of my Master’s
- A portfolio website showcasing my projects and experience

I’ve made many attempts to get into a corporate role, but I honestly feel like I’m doing something wrong because I’m not getting the results I expected.

I’m mainly applying through SEEK and Indeed, and less through LinkedIn because it feels extremely competitive there, with many jobs showing 80+ applicants. I also tailor my resume for each position and write cover letters rather than sending the exact same application everywhere.

I genuinely feel that if recruiters take the time to look at my portfolio, they’ll be interested in my background and want to know more.

For anyone who has successfully landed a Data Analyst, Data Engineer, or other IT/tech role in Australia, what would you recommend I change or do differently?

I’d really appreciate honest feedback on:
My job-search strategy

Resume/application approach

Portfolio

Types of roles I should target

Anything else I might be overlooking

Even if you think I’m approaching this completely wrong, I’d rather hear it. 😅
Thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to share some advice!

I really don't know what to say other then the fact that yesterday I experienced the latest knockback (and I've had multiple knock backs, I've pretty much have gone to all the job providers locally) trying to get onto inclusive employment Australia, because where I am atm isn't making enough money to give me more hours (which is 12 hours). Even the employment agent agreed that it is so stupid of centrelink to have everyone (on dsp) automatically set at 8 hours instead of individualized and being snobby about trying to stop dsp recevers who already work more then 8 hours from joining inclusive employment Australia. When I've asked people outside of employment agencies ok where to get work, they have no understanding that places like woolies and maccas are not suitable for me and I don't want to work at those places. I also do not want go back to an ade, they can get stuffed with their productivity wages! For anyone wondering, I want to get a job to do with my cert 3 in photography and visual arts. here is the link to my portfolio, but centrelink and their ableism and snobbery won't even let me get my foot in the door before I can even get help! this has been going on for over a year ever since my old job agency lost the contract for inclusive employment. which is so fucked up because under the old des system they were allowed to help me look for more work and now they can't! really want to light a 🔥 under their ass

This is hard to phrase but essentially I had an experience with my provider where I found it interesting how comfortable they felt expressing their judgement of me based on our limited interactions.

For reference, I have been employed for the last 12 years in customer service/admin jobs.

In the appointment previous to this interaction there was a second person in the room I hadn't met/wasn't introduced too. This was an appointment after I had missed one previously due poor time management while I was dealing with some admin to do with my previous tenancy and bond for which I was very apologetic about.

My provider tried to stress that it's important that I don't miss any appointments as it may put me under undue financial stress if my payment gets suspended and I have to wait for backpay.

I basically said that I agree but that I am also an adult and am happy to accept any consequences for my negligence, he however kept harping on this point in a way that felt very infantalising, so I stressed again that I am an adult and accept any consequences as such from missing future appointments.

In the next appointment, my provider mentioned how that was supposedly the general manager of the provider (Asuria for reference) and how she could allegedly tell that I 'am in no way shape or form 'Job ready''

I found this interesting as I generally dont go out of my way to put on a professional mask so to speak when dealing with the job provider system.

This feedback being provided outside of the context of 'if you actually do want to get a job, you need to get on top of your routine/way you present yourself'

In the same conversation I mentioned how I had a Dr's appointment in regards to an ADHD assessment and my provider just casually said 'Oh weird...I dont know about ADHD cause you don't display any of the symptoms...well maybe inattentive' this is after I have been to a grand total of 3 appointments with him.

Sorry this post is so long, I mostly just venting about how the system and society looks at the unemployed with such disdain, it reminds me of how we assume people who are homeless have made some personal choice to end up in such a situation. Me showing up to my provider in a disheveled state doesn't mean I physically dont know how to put on a professional mask and get a job, they know I have been employed for the last 13 years...

Hi There,

I have all the degrees but cant work in my field. Recently I've been pretty traumatised in my workplace. Long story. Looking for something new without any support or reassurance the employer isn't a nightmare is terrifying. I don't call in sick, im a hard worker, and I really *want* to work.

Seriously? What i really want is some steady barista work for a while, or some consistent admin work. I havent done hospo​ since my teens, and only mickey d's. I would smash admin work. I just need somewhere thats safe, and a bit of a leg up to find something.

Im not yet on a centrelink payment (but will be in 8 weeks time unless i find a job.)

Is the IEA program suitable for me? I just need some reassurance, honestly. Success stories. Something. Freaking out a bit.

Thanks.

sorry I couldn't find a correct flare for my question!!

I've recently gone back on jobseeker after withdrawing from studying (I'm 25 so no longer on YA). I had my claim appointment a couple weeks back and was told I'd be doing my mutual obligations independently via the workforce aus website

I'm more than capable of doing this and agreed to it, but I've noticed I've now been paired with a job provider and it no longer says that I'm doing my mutual obligations online?

for context, I have disabilities that qualify me for IEA, but I'm so confused as to why centrelink have said that I wouldn't be with a job provider but workforce australia says the opposite?

I can't even get in contact with the job provider that's suddenly set me appointments (their phone number rings out each time and they don't reply to emails?), there's no option to change to a different provider either

(I've been with this provider in the past and had a horrific experience where I made multiple formal complaints about communication and abelism, so no idea why I've been assigned to them again?)

hey all, i recently received this, sent from APM the employement service provider:

"our Job Search effort/s were assessed as unsatisfactory.

.

• Did not tailor efforts to industry/type of job."

May I understand what this is about? And, what can I do to prevent this from happening?