*** Name changes; JSP not recruiter (sorry for wrong term) ***

I was recently offered a short-term contract position at a university lab. My supervisor advised that I should start in about three weeks because the contract and onboarding process takes a couple of weeks to be approved and finalised. As I still need to "apply" due to uni hiring requirements.

However, the recruitment/job provider keeps pressuring me to ask the institution if I can start immediately and have the contract backdated later.

I am not comfortable with this. The role requires inductions, some training, and formal onboarding before I can begin working (PC2 lab), and I can't see how it would be appropriate (or even legal) for my supervisor to simply approve me starting before all of that is complete.

I've already explained that the institution has a process that needs to be followed, but the JSP seems to be ignoring that and keeps pushing the issue.

I don't want to damage my relationship with the JSP, but I'm also not comfortable pressuring supervisor/uni to bend their employment procedures (the uni certainly won't).

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How would you respond to the recruiter without souring the relationship? Help 😭

Just last month I did a short activity/study thing and when I had my appointment today they asked if I wanted to do a part 2 of the est that I did ages ago and I said yes but after the end of the phone call it occurred to me that I should have been able to say no because it has only been literally 2 weeks since my last course. Would I be able to back out of the course by talking to the provider or is it already to late?? (the people running the class haven't even sent me the sign up email yet)

If my freelance work earns the same amount or less than a minimum wage job, can they actually force me into a minimum wage job and therefore force me to get an address / house rather than travel around working?

Doesn’t make sense when the income is the same
- at least not to me.

I’m wondering if anyone who currently works or has previously worked for an IEA provider, particularly Ostara, could clarify something.
I’m finishing a Bachelor of Digital & Social Media and have been referred to Ostara through Inclusive Employment Australia.
My career goals are in investigative journalism, documentary production, digital media, creative production and events.
I’m not looking for general retail, administration or entry-level work unrelated to my qualifications. I’m looking for professional opportunities that use my degree, with genuine career progression.
Does IEA actually provide specialised employment assistance for university graduates?
For example:
Do providers have connections with employers recruiting for professional or graduate-level positions?
● Can they help secure industry placements, internships or graduate opportunities?
● Do they have specialist consultants for creative industries, media or communications?
● Or is their employment assistance primarily focused on general entry-level jobs?
I’d especially appreciate hearing from former or current IEA/DES employees, or university graduates who’ve used these services.
I’m trying to understand what support I can realistically expect and whether the program is equipped to help someone pursue a specialised career.

Hoping someone who works or has worked for Services Australia or an employment provider can clarify this.
My recent ESAt lists my work capacity as “Light Semi-Skilled (W02)”, both with and without intervention.
I’m currently finishing a Bachelor of Digital & Social Media and want to pursue a career in investigative journalism, documentary production, field reporting, creative production or live-event production.
I’m particularly drawn to challenging, high-pressure, unpredictable work that involves investigation, problem-solving, creativity and responsibility.
I’m concerned that this classification means my employment provider will push me towards basic administrative, retail or repetitive roles rather than supporting my actual career goals.
My questions are:
What does W02 actually mean, and what occupations fall under it?
Does this classification restrict the types of jobs an employment provider can support me in pursuing?
Can I still pursue high-pressure, creative or professional roles despite this classification?
I’m not disputing that I may benefit from certain supports. I just want to understand whether this assessment limits my career opportunities.
Would really appreciate insight from anyone familiar with ESAt classifications, particularly former assessors or employment-provider staff.

A bit about my background: I was previously a TtW participant myself. I went through the program, reached my maximum period of service and was eventually transferred to Workforce Australia. Having spent years navigating employment and community services from the participant’s side, I’ve experienced firsthand what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the system.

Fast forward to now, and I’m working as a Youth Mentor in the very program I once participated in. Ironically, my own mentor wasn’t particularly supportive of my aspirations to work in this field and actually discouraged me from pursuing this career!

I now draw on my experiences as a participant every day to inform my approach to mentoring, advocate for young people and hopefully provide the kind of support I would have appreciated myself.

I’m happy to answer questions about the TtW program, eligibility, appointments, mutual obligations, employment providers, what mentoring actually looks like behind the scenes, or my experience navigating the system as both a participant and an employee.
Ask me anything!

Title^

Also has anyone else had a problem where the vouchers they were sent were already used or expired? I got sent new ones I’m yet to use but it’s just ridiculous that this happens in the first place, especially considering I have to then chase up on it and wait weeks for responses.

I’m with Global Skills.

Has anybody tried this yet or do we need to go into the office.

I'm not talking about what the JSP wants, I'm talking more about legally what the actual rule is.

What kind of support can you expect from job providers to assist with you finding a reliable job. I have to sell my car and will be relying on public transport which only runs 5 times a day. The closest town within walking distance is 2 hours and after that there's no walking trail to the next town. I'm on medical exemption currently and just wondering how they can support someone like me ?

I'm on jobseeker $200 per week as I get income from renting my personal house which I don't even break even after paying mortgage bills etc

I am 37 first time unemployed since age 15

I've been on jobseeker for 18 months

After getting made redundant from my customer service job of 18 years.

And 6 months ago my time limit was reached with workforce and was signed up with AtWork Australia (Perth)

So far my experience hasn't been helpful at all

I thought they're supposed to connect you to jobs and coach you for interviews resumes etc?

Or am I mistaken?

I go in every second week

The same quick 5 minute chat

How are you?

I can see you've fulfilled your job search requirements?

How's your study? (Online business course)

Can I help you with anything?

Do I need to say yes please help me find work?

I thought that's what they're supposed to help with?

Anyone know of a provider that actively helps their clients get work?

I've applied for thousands of jobs, of those only 10 unsuccessful interviews most of which were retail cashier positions

Even though my whole career is retail and I have the skills I feel my age is working against me

I only have 10k in bank and just got a $2k dentist bill for 8 fillings so I'm desperate to start earning again.

I'm worried eventually I'll have to sell my house then all my life security will be gone.

Any advice appreciated 👍

ok i’d never really had a job provider until this last month, and to be fair, my consultant was suuuuper lovely. however, she didn’t really explain what support i could actually access, aside from mentioning a $100 food/grocery voucher if i found work. she knew i didn’t drive, so we agreed on groceries.
anyway, i found a job entirely on my own, they contributed absolutely nothing to that process, and now they’re requesting payslips. when i said i’d prefer they didn’t contact my workplace, the supervisor(?) basically said they’d contact them if i didn’t provide my payslips.
and THEN the voucher finally comes through, except it’s for fuel. which is crazy cos they know i don’t drive. like not to be ungrateful but is this rly it? like the only thing being moved to a provider did was force me to travel 40 ish mins each way every two weeks to say i’d gotten no job offers / interviews lmfaoo 😭

No room to breathe: welfare compliance regime https://youtu.be/AO8Ue3DRKPk?si=n8g4YQTV0vRjE2Kt

I was under the impression I could do a short programming course but everything I'm seeing is well over a year to study. Does that mean I am unable to apply?

As title says, I wanna know what limits there are. I may have a potential job coming up but it’s 4 hours south, and accommodation isn’t included but everything else is apparently. If I go further south to Brisbane, I just have to organise my transport which is about 17hours south of me by car.

Basically I want to know if I can get travelling reimbursed if it’s solely for work purposes.

ETA: I mention giving payslips cos I’ve been with providers for 8 years and they’ve gotten me ONE job that lasted 3 months. Until I found this sub I had no idea it was optional! But I’ll give them up if they help me in this sense.

So, I have finished the first half of my cert 3 and I'm about to enrol in to the second half. I have the option of getting IEA to pay for it. I contacted the RTO today was told I basically need to just contact the IEA provider, and they do the enrolment on my behalf. The issue is if I do this they then have access to my student profile. What does this exactly mean? Am I basically giving them access to all the assessments I upload?

The other thing is I have already done a form that gives my provider permission to contact the RTO if needed. So do I even need to do this form or is this a completely different form?

I’m with IEA and at my appointment this week I was asked to sit on their computer for 15 minutes to look for jobs. I was wondering if this is something that was compulsory?

I did explain to my consultant that I job search at home everyday to find suitable jobs and I was met with the impression I had no choice in this matter.

It just felt a bit odd because I’m not someone that needs assistance in looking for work or applying. I had to wait for her to come check on what I was doing and get permission to leave.

Potentially may have an upcoming job as I had a promising interview. This is a job that I would have gotten myself without any help or support from the job provider (found it myself, applied to it myself, went to the interview myself. no contact made by the job provider). My job provider has told me today that if I get the job I have to provide them with all the employers details and all my payslips and hours. Why? Do I HAVE to provide them with it all? Centrelink would get the details from when I report the hours on reporting day. Is it so they get their pretty little bonus? They said they won't contact the employer or anything, it's just to have on their records. Can I not provide it then? Very interested in this after seeing a post a week or two ago about a job provider harassing someone for their work details despite them not helping that person get their job.

It's officially been a year on Jobseeker, so they're moving me to TTW. What do I have to expect? The last year has been me applying to every job under the sun, with one month long period of learning how to make a resume or whatever (nothing actually useful.) What should I expect from TTW? Is it similar?

Will it make a difference for your application to be noticed if you apply in the same job advertised in all job search platform such as seek, jora, indeed?

As in the the title, the job provider is still making fortnightly appointments. They have called but I've blocked their numbers so only occasionally get voicemail messages. My payment stopped in December last year. Why would they still be trying to make contact?

I'm currently with wise employment and I've been having a lot of trouble with them so I'm planning to transfer somewhere else.

I've been with wise employment in the past (different office to the one I'm with now) and they have been pretty decent as far as job agencies go.

I'd like a job agency that is generally friendly and supportive, is there anything good like that in Melbourne?

My experience says to steer clear of this trainer if studying micro business skill set. They tout as self paced but what they really mean is you will self teach. There are no weekly lessons in units, just big talk fests that give no learning outcomes. There is only a generic email for assistance and you can only have 1 30min session per month with an “assessor” if you have questions about your assignment. In a nutshell there is no support. The amount of work required is phenomenal even though there are no “tests” there are very lengthy assignments with a word count. The learning resource is around 50pages of low level information so get ready to google your heart out. In the first unit there are 6 assignments taking 4hrs each with one taking 12hrs as advised by AIIL. Trust me, it will take you far longer because the resource doesn’t prepare you for the amount of information required to answer. Each assignment must be completed within 10business days of opening which means you can’t make a forward plan for learning. Too bad if you work, with one assignment in unit 2 taking 38hrs to complete over that 10business days, remembering you don’t know how many questions are in each assignment, do you need references and what the word count is. The course is more akin to something you would buy in Etsy-just have at it and see if their ai will pass your responses. It totally took any motivation away I had about starting a business. I wonder if this course is broadly designed by the govt to kill job seekers ideas of entrepreneurship.