Brotherhood of St Laurence lunchtime research seminar - The 'Rise of the Provider'

Near-full employment in recent years has shifted the focus of labour market programs from addressing high rates of unemployment to addressing skills shortages and the need to increase labour force participation rates, including offering assistance for those who have multiple barriers to employment, at the same time as ensuring that people receiving working age benefits fulfill their responsibilities. This, combined with outsourcing of labour market programs as promoted by New Public Management, has led to the ‘rise of the provider’ as a key feature of the education, employment and training sector. Paradoxically, the sector charged with addressing some of the skills deficit is itself under-skilled and in need of revitalisation (on 22 April 2010, the Productivity Commission was charged with undertaking a study of “the education and training of workforce in Australia"). This seminar will report on a project investigating labour market disadvantage in the Northern Adelaide Region, one of the most disadvantaged in the country as measured by SEIFA indicators. It explores concerns about supply-led training being offered at the expense of industry demand-led training, and explores the implications of competitive funding imperatives for coordination across the plethora of private and public providers of services in education, employment and training in a disadvantaged region. 
Ed Carson is Professor of Social Policy at the University of South Australia. He has had a longstanding interest in employment services and state-third sector relationships. His current research interests include the meaning of New Localism and New Regionalism in Australia and the implications of these for employment and workforce planning.