Employment Services and Career Advice
The WA Department of Training and Workforce Development has a Career Centre service which provides assistance on careers.
Jobsearch: Job seekers may also be eligible for support from Federal Government funded employment services. Check for local services, locations and contact details on their site.
Employment services are rated based on the number of jobs they find and the extent of disadvantage of the jobseekers worked with. Check here for job and training performance ratings.
Job Market and Workforce
‘Western Australian employment trends and prospects May 2014’ by WA Department of Training and Workforce Development has published workforce projections. It should be noted that workforce predictions can be of limited value.
‘Workforce and Skills: Western Australian labour markets in transition.’ by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (Report Series, No.3 August 2014) provides a useful overview of WA workforce skills and characteristics. This is a detailed report for those serious about studying the job market and the distribution of work across the WA community.
‘The Battlefield for Skilled Jobs’ is a short article from Meredith Hammat, Save Our Services spokesperson on the future of skills and jobs.
Your rights
Job Seekers
Welfare Rights and Advocacy Service provides assistance to income support recipients, including payment difficulties as a result of job search requirements.
The Equal Opportunity Commission of WA can consider complaints of discrimination under WA laws with details available here.
The Australian Human Rights Commission is responsible for considering complaints of discrimination under federal laws.
For people applying for a new or first job, make sure you know your rights. The Employment Law Centre of WA has a comprehensive list of fact-sheets on everything from employment contracts, leave entitlements through to unfair dismissal and more.
Working People
The UnionsWA website is a valuable resource for workers. The site contains contact details for unions in Western Australia and general information on pay and conditions and government agencies that may be able to assist you. Generally, unions are only able to assist members.
If you wish to know which union is the best for you to join you can call the ACTU Help Line on 1300 362 223 or visit their site.
Skills
The ‘Student Satisfaction Survey 2014: WA State Report’ published by the WA Department of Training and Workforce Development. Note: These provide responses on overall satisfaction based on student characteristics, training facilities etc. but do not provide ratings for individual courses or specific training providers.
‘The likelihood of completing a government-funded VET program 2009–13’, published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research. While the capacity of individuals to succeed varies, this information provide a general indication of the difficulty, on average, over a number of years, for completing course in various study areas and at different levels of study.