The request sought information on:

• the Australian Government’s expenditure on employment services for the below programs between 2017-18 and 2022-23, both at the aggregate in dollar terms and as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) and in dollar terms at the program level:
  • jobactive, Workforce Australia (which replaced jobactive in 2022), Transition to Work, Time to Work, ParentsNext, Skills and Training Incentive, Entrepreneurship Facilitators Program, Career Revive Initiative, Reboot, Community Development Program and Disability Employment Services.
• the comparison of this expenditure, both in dollar terms and as a share of GDP over the period from 2017 to 2020, with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average and selected OECD countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Korea and Japan
• funding implications from ceasing jobactive at the end of 2021-22 and commencing Workforce Australia from 4 July 2022, including:
  • how the savings from expanding the Online Employment Services (OES) that operated under jobactive were reallocated in the 2020-21 Budget to support jobseekers with higher needs
  • what efficiencies have been achieved?

The request also sought the following information, if available:

• identification of programs which are intended to support people who are, or who are at risk of becoming, long-term unemployed
• any relevant documents underpinning the analyses outlined above.

Note: Expenditure on income support programs (e.g. Newstart allowance/Jobseeker Payment) is not requested and should not be included in any of the aggregate measures of employment assistance.