Help, but not real help: mature age jobseeker perspectives on employment services in Australia

The first of three reports from a study exploring how jobactive employment services can better help mature age jobseekers find work. This report focuses on the jobseekers.

At a glance

With an ageing workforce, Australia’s publicly funded employment services need to understand the needs and skills of older jobseekers so they can help them find jobs.

This is the first of three reports from a study made up of interviews with mature age jobseekers, jobactive staff and employers in four Victorian employment regions with high rates of mature-age unemployment.

This report focuses on the analysis of semi-structured interviews with 30 mature age jobseekers about their experiences of employment services.

Dive deeper

The report showed that there is disjunction between what mature age jobseekers say they need from employment services and what they get.

Instead of a focus on short-term solutions and compliance, mature age jobseekers identified a need for considered pathways to sustainable employment, an enhanced skills assessment and recognition process, more effective engagement and specific training relevant to digital job search and to available jobs.

This study was funded by the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation—Eldon & Anne Foote Trust (Innovation Grant 2015).