Jobseeker’s experience with job agencies left his mental health so poor he could not work

‘They get all the carrots, we get all the sticks’: Nathan, 46, says in 15 years of dealing with job agencies, only once did they find him a job. Photograph: Sarah Rhodes/The Guardian

After nearly 15 years navigating the system meant to help Australians find jobs, Nathan’s mental health was so badly damaged that he was unable to work.

The 46-year-old says the private companies profiting from the multibillion-dollar job services industry did little to help him find work throughout that time, but documents show they legally made thousands of dollars whenever he found employment for himself.