Nearly 90% of jobseekers unable to get long-term work despite millions spent on private job agencies

A target of 15% of all jobseekers remaining in employment for 26 weeks has not been met since Workforce Australia started in 2022, according to the employment department’s annual report. Photograph: skynesher/Getty Images

Australia’s private employment services are failing to get jobseekers into long-term work, despite costing taxpayers millions of dollars each year, department documents show.

Just 11.7% of jobseekers in Australia found long-term employment through a job provider in the latest financial year, according to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations’ annual report.