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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Cait Kelly Inequality reporter

Australian job agency under fire over ‘employability’ course that advises on washing and bathing

Hands typing on a laptop keyboard
Privatised employment services have been plagued by claims that job agencies provide poor-quality courses and training for jobseekers, including potentially demeaning lessons. Photograph: Joe Castro/AAP

A taxpayer-funded course run by one of Australia’s biggest employment service providers gives jobseekers instructions on how to shower properly and asks them in a questionnaire if one of the reasons they are unemployed is because they are “overweight” or “lazy”.

Wise Employment is among dozens of privatised job agencies contracted by the federal government to run the $500m Employability Skills Training program to help jobseekers “become job-ready by providing intensive pre-employment training”.

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