Workforce Australia participants, providers to speak during Committee hearings and site visits

PARTICIPANTS AND PROVIDERS of the ParentsNext program will appear before the Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services in upcoming public hearings.

They will be joined by advocacy bodies and human rights organisations discussing the program’s impacts on Tuesday,  December 6 in Melbourne and Wednesday, December 7 in Sydney.

The committee will also visit ParentsNext sites in and around those cities to gain further insights from participants and to hear directly from frontline staff.

Committee Chair, Julian Hill MP, said, “No-one is better placed to speak to the benefits and harms of ParentsNext than the parents and carers who have lived experience of this controversial program. The Committee is looking forward to hearing from them directly, as well as from frontline service providers who best know the challenges and issues in implementing the program on the ground.”

Submissions on ParentsNext can be made via the committee’s website. The committee has undertaken to make recommendations relating to ParentsNext by the end of February 2023.

Further information about the inquiry, including terms of reference, future public hearings, published submissions and hearing transcripts, will be available on the inquiry website.

Public hearing details

6 December 2022

Time               11.30am–1.45pm AEDT (Melbourne Time)

Location         Seminar Room 1, Monash Conference Centre, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne

Witnesses      

National Council of Single Mothers and their Children

Council of Single Mothers and their Children

Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare

Australian Council of Social Service

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7 December 2022

Time               1.30pm–4.45pm AEDT (Sydney time)

Location         Corinthian Room, Sydney Masonic Centre, 66 Goulburn Street, Sydney

Witnesses      

ParentsNext participants

Australian Human Rights Commission                       

Domestic Violence New South Wales  

Campbell Page

OCTEC      

Metro Assist

A live audio broadcast of the hearing will be available via the Parliament’s Watch, Read, Listen website.

 

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