Australia's celebrated low unemployment rate masks a brutal reality for hundreds of thousands of people locked out of the workforce, according to a damning new report. The annual Anglicare Australia Jobs Availability Snapshot, released in December 2025, reveals a job market that is failing its most vulnerable citizens, with a privatised support system accused of profiting from their hardship.
A Bleak Picture for Entry-Level Jobseekers
The central finding of the report is stark. For every single entry-level position advertised across the country, there are 25 people receiving JobSeeker payments who have been unemployed for over a year. This staggering ratio means that even if every one of those vacancies were filled by someone from that long-term unemployed cohort, 96 percent would still miss out.
"We are punishing people for not finding work in a market that simply doesn't have enough to go around," said Kasy Chambers, Executive Director of Anglicare Australia. The report highlights that the people competing for these scarce roles are often older Australians, people with disability, those without formal qualifications, or individuals returning to work after a long absence.
Compounding the crisis is the shrinking pool of suitable jobs. Entry-level roles now constitute just 11 per cent of all job advertisements, their lowest share in more than ten years. Since 2022, the number of these vacancies has plummeted by 37 per cent nationally.
A Profitable Business Model Built on Failure
The Snapshot argues that systemic failure has been effectively monetised. "That failure has become a business model," the report states, taking aim at the multi-billion dollar network of private, for-profit employment service providers.
These providers are paid by the government largely for administering the system—booking appointments, enforcing compliance, and ticking boxes—rather than for securing meaningful employment outcomes. They profit regardless of whether a person finds a job. This model, in place for two decades, has "created a generation of private contractors who profit from poverty, while long-term unemployment has only grown."
The human cost is described as staggering. Jobseekers are subjected to endless compulsory appointments, irrelevant training, and activities disconnected from local job opportunities. Many face financial penalties for missing appointments they were never notified about or for failing to apply for jobs they have no realistic chance of obtaining.
Call for a Person-Centred Overhaul
Anglicare Australia contends that the entire logic of the system is flawed, built on the false assumption that enough jobs exist for those who search diligently. The evidence suggests the opposite: with nearly 600,000 people stuck on JobSeeker for more than a year, the problem is structural, not personal.
"We can't punish our way out of a shortage of jobs," Chambers asserts. The report calls for a complete overhaul, demanding the replacement of the for-profit model with a public, person-centred system focused on support instead of surveillance and punishment.
A critical first step, according to the network, is to raise the base rate of Centrelink payments above the poverty line. The report argues that you cannot effectively search for work if you cannot afford transport, internet access, or even food. "No employment program can succeed when people are punished into destitution," it concludes.
After two decades of privatisation, Anglicare Australia states the results are clear: the system has failed. The organisation is calling for a new approach that provides security, opportunity, and dignity—a system it says all Australians deserve.
