Being Responsive to Stakeholder Engagement for Innovation

Carlon B¹*

1. Queensland Department of Employment and Training, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

In the closing months of 1998 the unemployment rate in the State of Queensland was approaching twice the level that it is now, consistent with the trend for Australia as a whole at that time. As part of a multi-faceted strategy to alleviate unemployment, in October 1998 the newly elected Queensland Government led by Premier Peter Beattie, implemented a range of new labour market programs under the banner of the Breaking the Unemployment Cycle initiative. By 30 June 2007 at least A$743 million will have been invested in this innovative initiative that will have created over 100,000 new job placements, apprenticeships and traineeships for unemployed jobseekers who are least competitive in the labour market.

By any measure the Breaking the Unemployment Cycle initiative has been a successful and innovative public policy tool and a crucible for innovation in labour market intervention by an Australian State Government. There are numerous factors that have contributed to its success, but this paper examines the strategies used to engage stakeholders in communities to identify solutions to localised unemployment, and actually deliver community-based labour market programs. Models of engagement that have underpinned and sustained two of the major labour market programs that comprise the Breaking the Unemployment Cycle initiative are presented, preceded by a contextual analysis of the challenging operating environment.

In particular, Queensland is a geographically vast State with a highly decentralised population and labour force and a diverse industry structure. It is characterised by distinct regional labour markets with marked variations in employment and unemployment. Regional communities are similarly disparate having differing needs, expectations and aspirations. Against this background, galvanising community support for these labour market programs was always going to be critical.