The Australian Council of Social Services has found the nations employment services are failing due to an overemphasis on social security compliance and inadequate investment.
The councils senior adviser Peter Davidson says programs designed to help people find a job are more focused on enforcing Newstart requirements to the point where two thirds of people on Newstart have been on the program for over 12 months.
Davidson is calling for fundamental changes to be made to the system in order for people on Newstart to effectively find employment and not leave them behind.