A number of Australian Government employment service providers which have offices on the Central Coast, have responded to claims made in a recent ABC television Four Corners episode that some agencies were guilty of fraud, manipulation and falsified paperwork.
The episode explained how the Government’s Job Services Australia (JSA) scheme was being exploited by agencies in an effort to increase profits. Statements provided by a number of agencies, in response to interview requests and prior to the programme going to air, were published on the Four Corners’ website.
These included MAX Employment which has offices in Gosford, Wyong and Woy Woy, Catholic Care which has an office in North Gosford and the Salvation Army’s Employment Plus office located in Gosford MAX Employment managing director Ms Deborah Homewood responded to the interview request by Four Corners and said: “MAX Employment has been a provider of Australian Government employment services since 2002”.
“We are proud of our achievements in placing hundreds of thousands of Australians in jobs and changing their lives through employment.
“MAX Employment is committed to the highest standards of probity and compliance with all of our contractual obligations and is accredited under International Quality standards (ISO 9001), the National Standards for Disability Services and the Department of Employment’s quality assurance framework.”
A request for a further statement from Max Employment following the programme going to air, was met with a redirection by them to their original published statement.
The Salvation Army’s Employment Plus managing director Mr Greg Moult said in his statement that: “It is a matter of public record that a repayment of $9 million was made to the Commonwealth by Employment Plus in 2006.”
A Government audit, which we fully cooperated with, found we had incorrectly classifi ed job seekers as highly disadvantaged, thereby attracting a higher fee.
This was not due to deliberate manipulation of the funding model, but rather, a combination of the complexity of the job seeker classifi cation instrument, poor internal processes and human error.
Since that time, Employment Plus has implemented stringent processes and procedures to minimise erroneous claims.
A subsequent Government audit in 2012, which examined a number of providers, including Employment Plus, found no similar grounds for concern.
The JSA system is complex and there are many guidelines we must follow in claiming fees. “Interpretive and administrative errors can occur, including missing documentary evidence.
For example, outcome fees require us to lodge copies of the employee’s payslips over 13 weeks. A missing payslip can result in our fee being disallowed or a payment being recovered by the Government.
We appreciate the need for the Government’s robust checking and recovery processes to make sure all claims are justifi ed, and we remain serious about minimising our own errors.
To that end, our claims process has been centralised, with a unit of only 10 people having the authority to submit claims on behalf of 115 sites nationally.
Their responsibility is to ensure claims are justifiable under the rules and where necessary documentary evidence is in place.
In addition to the checking conducted by our centralised claims unit, our internal auditors also conduct spot checks, including for claims already lodged to the Department.
Where they believe a claim has been made in error we alert the Department and lodge a ‘self recovery’, returning the fee in question.
In 2014, Employment Plus gained ISO9001 certifi cation, refl ecting the quality of our critical processes and procedures.
We understand that in respect of adherence to guidelines and claims, we are now considered ‘low risk’ by the Department. “Over the 2011/12 – 2013/14 period, total recoveries equated to just 0.5% of the value of all claims.
“As an organisation, we have never attempted to defraud or deliberately overcharge the Commonwealth. “Any attempt to suggest otherwise is unjustified, unfair and inaccurate,” Mr Moult’s statement reads.
CatholicCare’s statement also noted the Government review in 2012 that “identified areas of ambiguity around the claiming of Provider Brokered Outcomes which had resulted in incorrect claims by many providers in the Job Services Australia network”.
“CatholicCare accepted responsibility for what were primarily administrative errors identifi ed at its Local Employment and Training Solutions (LETS) program and initiated repayment of fees in consultation with the Department.
“For the three fi nancial year periods 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14, repayments to the Government represented 1.1% of revenue.
“A range of improvements to training systems and procedures were initiated and implemented at LETS, which is a relatively small provider of Job Services Australia programs.
“CatholicCare is a notfor- profi t organisation committed to improving the lives of people in need, and working towards a society in which there is full recognition of individual’s rights and responsibilities, and that enable the dignity, wellbeing and participation of all persons,” the statement reads.
The ORS Group (ORS) was contacted by Coast Community News and national director Ms Karen Brown said: “ORS categorically refutes any suggestion of systemic failure in its compliance processes.”
“ORS has been providing high quality employment services to job seekers and employers on the Central Coast since 2003,” Ms Brown said.
“ORS currently has a Five Star Rating which is the highest rating that a JSA provider can receive from the Department of Employment based on its record of assisting job seekers move into sustainable employment.
“As with all other JSA providers, ORS is regularly audited by the Department of Employment. “As a result of our own regular and rigorous audits, and those of the Department, most claiming errors are identified and quickly resolved.
“ORS has never been advised by the Department or our independent ISO auditors of any concerns about the integrity of our fi les or the documentation they contain.
“In fact, ORS is regularly complimented on our standards and our commitment to the continual improvement of our processes and systems in line with Government requirements.
“We are proud to work in partnership with local businesses to provide opportunities for Central Coast job seekers,” Ms Brown concluded.
Website, 3 Mar 2015
Four Corners
Media statement,
3 Mar 2015
Karen Brown, ORS