April2002 Comment v5

Brotherhood Of St Laurence

Informations

• Publié par: Bejuf
• Nombre de lectures: 49
• Langue: English

Extrait

www.bsl.org.au
BrotherhoodComment
ISSN 1320 8632April 2002
A regular update from Social Action and Research
New ways to work
Joanna Dimopoulos, the Brotherhood’s General Manager for Partnerships From the ground up
Employment Opportunities, recently spent time in the UK Inclusive and purposeful partnerships are a critical Groundwork is a leading UK
examining employment initiatives. element in the implementation of the ‘employment environmental regeneration
first’ and ‘regeneration’ approach to job creation. charity, comprising a federation
In the United Kingdom, New Labour’s policies of
of local trusts. It seeks to
sustainable social and economic inclusion, Local Strategic Partnerships, as demonstrated by the reconnect people with their
particularly the emphasis on ‘economic Glasgow Alliance and Liverpool City Council, bring natural surroundings by providing
participation’ and an ‘employment first’ welfare stakeholders and planners together to develop salaried work and training that
system, have facilitated a major paradigm shift holistic, multi-pronged community strategies for support local economies. In
to more holistic and broad-based approaches regeneration and service provision. Alongside 2000–01 Groundwork created
to job creation. New jobs and training are these relatively broad strategies is the social inclusion 1000 jobs, worked with 100,000
integrated with economic, cultural, social and partnership (SIP) which is often narrowly targetted to young people and adults and
environmental strategies. engage a specific group in a neighbourhood. through this improved 6000
hectares of land. Groundwork
A feature of the new approach is that it takes place
also reports that 53 per cent ofLabour market intermediaries:
largely at the local level, where the linked problems
participants go on to furthera key partnerof unemployment, low incomes, low skill levels,
employment after this experience.
Organisations that operate as intermediaries in poor housing, poor health, family breakdown and
the labour market, bringing together long-termhigh levels of crime ironically create fertile ground continued on page 2
unemployed people and jobs, are key partners for community-based solutions.
in the agenda of local regeneration. Such
organisations stimulate transitional employmentDue partly to national political will and the need
but also contribute to local people and communityto address the issue of social exclusion, local
social and economic development.authorities throughout the UK have become
Contents
facilitators of community and individual
regeneration and renewal. They have invested in Responding to local needs 3 Employment for
the creation of new departments of ‘Regeneration’ In suburban Glasgow, the ‘Roots Out’ SIP brought asylum seekers
which work across boundaries, avoiding the ‘silo’ together representatives from community,
4 State budget prioritiesmentality that previously separated health from government, business, a labour market intermediary
2002-03housing from job creation. and commercial sex workers to address a complexity
of issues surrounding prostitution and its impact. 6 Alternatives to detention
As Prime Minister Tony Blair explained: Outcomes from this SIP included improved health
8 Measuring the income and safety for the sex workers; training in childcare
Social exclusion is about income but it’s about which led to alternative employment opportunities; divide
much more. It’s about prospects and networks and improved community relationships resulting
10 ‘Talking treaty’and life chances. It’s a very modern problem, from better mutual understanding.
one that is more harmful to the individual, more 11 Finding common ground
damaging to self-esteem, more corrosive to Also in Glasgow, a housing estate based SIP
12 Needs of homelesssociety as a whole, more likely to be passed identified security as a major concern of residents.
elderly peopledown from generation to generation, than This led to the WISE Group, a member of the
material poverty. (Tony Blair, Stockwell Park Glasgow Alliance, developing training and offering 14 Housing policy
School, Lambeth, December 1997) transitional employment in fitting safety and
security features in all homes where residents felt 15 Information and
vulnerable. In the process, residents met together resources
and other community benefits ensued—notably
estate-based childcare, and mentoring for people
in the employment program.BrotherhoodComment
continued from page 1
The Brotherhood of St Laurence’s
Social business as intermediary a necessity for Australia as well as for the UK.
2002-03 strategic directions
The experience in the United Kingdom reveals CREATE is yet another labour market intermediary
identify job creation as pivotal in
that the most effective programs are those whichproviding salaried employment to long-term
addressing intergenerational and
fulfil multiple policy, community and individualunemployed people in repairing, refurbishing
localised poverty in Australia.
objectives by providing real work, real wages and selling affordable household white goods.
Drawing on learnings such as
and real skills development as well as offsettingBased on a ‘triple-dividend model’, CREATE
these from the UK, the
the ‘front-end’ costs by creating lasting benefitsaims to be socially, environmentally and
organisation will be devoting
for communities. financially sustainable. Ironically, one of its
research and service development
most significant challenges is its success as
resources to work with others to
The role of labour market intermediaries is toan intermediary. The flow-through of employees
implement creative and inclusive
adopt deliberate strategies that involve one orwho gain other jobs slows down CREATE’s
ways to address job creation in
more of the following:production and sales as it loses acquired skills
neighbourhood settings.
• assistance with training, placement andand expertise.
temporary jobs;
Joanna Dimopoulos
• development of community enterprises to The way forward [phone]
create sustainable jobs; andDeveloping sustainable jobs for long-term [e-mail]
• new projects which address unmet communityunemployed and highly disadvantaged citizens is
and individual needs.
In this issue
Sarina Greco outlines a workable and more Comment also lists new resourcesThis Comment includes a wide cross-section of the
generous approach than mandatory detention for available in the Brotherhood’sBrotherhood’s current work in policy and service
asylum seekers. Alan Gruner and Philippa Angley library and on the web.development. Several articles are accompanied by
point to challenges in the aged care sector, andstories of people whose experience illustrates our
Sally Jope to the importance of affordable housingconcerns. Bonus publication
for those on low incomes. Precarious work, uncertain futures
In this issue Joanna Dimopoulos reflects on (included in the mailout of this
On a global scale, Stephen Ziguras compareslearnings from UK organisations involved in Comment to subscribers) is the
income inequality in Australia with other OECDtransitional employment, and Pam Beaumont latest Changing Pressures bulletin,
countries, and Nic Frances reports hisreports GAPCo’s experience of providing access to highlighting the impact of the
impressions from the World Economic Forum inemployment services for asylum seekers fragmentation of work on 25 to
New York in February 2002.and refugees. 34-year-olds.
Frank Hytten draws attention to the unfinishedThe Brotherhood of St Laurence’s submission Deborah Patterson
business of reconciliation, and the work of ANTaRoutlining priorities for the Victorian budget in Editor
(Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation)2002-03 is summarised on pages 8 and 9. [phone]
now based at the Brotherhood’s head office. [e-mail]
Reminder:
Annual subscriptions for 2002 are now due. Please use reply coupons on address label or back page.
Your prompt payment is appreciated and helps to offset production and mailing costs.
Published in April 2002 by Brotherhood Comment subscription renewals for 2002 are now due (see p 16)
Brotherhood of St Laurence,
Brotherhood Comment is published three times a year by the Social Action and Research Division of the
67 Brunswick Street
Brotherhood of St Laurence.
Fitzroy, Victoria, 3065 Australia
The Brotherhood of St Laurence works for the well-being of Australians on low incomes to improve their economic, ABN 24 603 467 024
social and personal circumstances. It does this through direct aid and support, and by providing a wide range of
services and activities for families, the unemployed and the aged.Telephone [phone]
Facsimile 03 9417 2691 The Brotherhood also researches the causes of poverty, undertakes community education and lobbies government
E-mail [e-mail] for a better deal for people on low incomes.
April 2002BrotherhoodComment
Pathways to employment
An innovative response to refugees and asylum seekers
The Brotherhood of St Laurence’s by FaCS, providing help with compiling work
Profile
GAPCo grew out of its long- histories or resumes, making applications,
running Open Employment Unit. preparing for interviews and other vital stages of
Created in April 2001, GAPCo is the job search process. GAPCo also actively
an innovati