UNEMPLOYED? BOARD THE ENTERPRISE FOR A BRAVE NEW WORLD AND A 'REAL' JOB: A CRITIQUE OF THE NEW STRATEGY FOR REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT.

This paper argues that the changes to the delivery of labour exchange assistance to the unemployed, initiated in the 1996 Federal Budget, are unlikely to deliver on the promise of `Helping Australians into Real Jobs'. The changes posited by the government are more realistically viewed as a trend to divesting itself of cost intensive functions through the mechanisms of corporatisation and privatisation. Through an analysis of service expectations, the author suggests that the creation of the employment services market will neither build confidence in the Government's strategy to contain unemployment, nor have a positive impact on reducing levels of unemployment. PEPE Ltd, the government owned employment placement enterprise, faces an interesting future as it competes in an open employment services marketplace. It is further suggested that the privatisation trend has serious implications for equitable service delivery to unemployed Australians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]