The elephant in the room is immigration, taken to record levels by the last governmetn (despite its rhetoric suggesting otherwise) and still at high levels under our current government.

Property industry and its hangers on, as well as business, all press for higher immigration because it means more demand for what they're offering, and for business, lower inflation through lower real wages growth because it introduces extra capacity into the labor force, in all sectors from unskilled to skilled.

Racism is the red herring used to persecute anyone who criticizes the dominant agenda in immigration.

Its a fact that there's a NAIRU, non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment, and that unemployment cannot fall below a certain level without likely triggering a wages explosion due to there being labor shortages. Hence immigration being kept high, and calls from its beneficiaries, such as property industyr, business and NGO employees who service recent arrivals, to keep the numbers high.

This experience mirrors my own. 30 years high level professional experience, then on the dole. Last time I signed on was 30 years ago in Cardiff, Wales. Now I sign on in Australia - absolutely nothing has changed, the procedure is exactly the same, the arrogance and rudeness of the staff equally aggressive and humiliating, the absolute uselessness of the "training programs", the fact that you - the unemployed - are a criminal for simply standing there. The fact of being a seasoned professional now makes the whole thing worse of course, because one can see the absolute inefficiencies of the system - like I receive exactly the same piece of paper three times through the post, every time, when I don't need it. And remember that even if I got a job I’d still have to attend daytime training programs in the relevant fortnight or be financially penalised if I was unlucky enough to find myself in the queue again. Oh yes...so I’d get a job and then I’d have to say to my employer “sorry not to be able to be at work and do my job at all today because I have to go to Centrelink so they can teach me how to get a job....” Does that sound like it makes sense to you? That’s “mutual obligation” for you.

You the taxpayer cops those costs..those inefficiencies I guarantee are worth far more than the so called "dole cheats". The dole cheats profile hasn't changed in the 30 years either he/she is everyone standing in the queue. Everyone who has the absolute effrontery to be a loser in a winners world.

So I have, in a very short time gone from being the “elitist chardonnay swilling latte drinking PC post-modern communist extremist undermining Australian core values and living the highlife on the iron lung of taxpayer funds" to the "lazy loser underbelly fraudulent welfare dependent spitting on Australian core values and languishing on the iron lung of taxpayer funds"..;-)

And what's more...I'm proud of being both.

I don't believe there is such a thing as the "skilled unemployed". What does exist are people with the wrong skills who don't want to be employed in other than what they see as their 'skill'.

There is absolutely no point in having a certificate in any middle management, banking or IT service area when there is an over abundance of these people, trained and being trained. Employers don't need them, they are everywhere. University degrees in 'arts' (airy fairy) is a useless degree in nothing much. They can't all go into TV, entertainment, etc. There are simply not enough positions for that type of skill in this country.

Think about what your career choice was and what it will be in the future. Labour intensive positions are the ones people want to avoid, yet, they are the ones employers are crying out for. Plumbers, carpenters, electricians, painters, gardeners, cleaners, florists, taxi drivers, chefs, bakers, ad infinitum... You can always go back and get a nursing degree or start at med school of you want to really retrain.

People thought, up until now, they could get a uni degree in something and sit behind and desk and make the decisions. Wrong!
Don't cringe at the thought of cleaning, there are specialist cleaners in speciality areas. These are many hands on careers we need people trained for.

Immigration has not spoiled anyone's opportunities, people just chose the wrong career. Those who immigrate to Australia expect to work hard and do those jobs, so don't blame them.

My advice is, retrain if you are young enough. I think there are enough middle management positions already filled in this country now, so make another choice or take a step back if you really want a job.

It's easy to lose touch with how hard it is to be out of work and reliant on Centrelink. Too many people think it can't happen to them.

Like Beth, I'm not surprised that some people give up trying to look for work or end up applying for disability payments.

RaeBee, I'm an Arts graduate and I don't think I'm somehow superior to people who work in trades. Why would I? I've worked in unskilled jobs in the past and I don't think there's anything demeaning about it.

As the idea of 'skilled unemployed' I think the name makes sense. For example, some workers became highly skilled in the printing trades. They had years of training and experience but when the technology changed their skills lost any value in the labour market. If that happened to me, I find it difficult to deal with.

RaeBee

Sorry to disagree with your oversimplification of skilled unemployment.
Coming from the private sector I was contracted to the government as a consultant to develop employment and training programmes. Later took a permanent position administering and monitoring industry training.
Governments have been sold the concept of "level playing fields, global economy, etc, resulting in selling our resources for peanuts and buying them value added at a much higher price.
Multi-nationals have take over Australian companies that were making good profits, asset stripped them and claim they are no longer viable. Finally moving offshore to maintain viability.
Another ploy was lobbying government to have trades and professions downgraded and broken up so they can employ people on low wages. Later complaining there was insufficient pools of experienced and skills, etc available in Australia. Having now destroyed our industries, government then allows the importation of goods and resources from third world countries.
Our R&D is almost non-existent.
Our Education, dental and public hospital and medical systems have been denied adequate funding.
We need to protect our industries and instead of selling our raw resources sell them only after value adding.
At one forum I spoke, I asked what the audience what was their background, what retraining had they undertaken.
Most were highly skilled and trained people. Most were made redundant and the companies contracting work offshore.
Speaking with some of these overseas contacts I was surprised at their poor grasp of English and the lack of skills and knowledge they demonstrated.
Those who had undertaken retraining found, in many cases at much lower levels than they already had acquired. In some instances did not need to be retrained as they were already experienced and qualified to undertake the new task/s. E.g. one case was a highly skilled telecommunication technician and computer expert. Made redundant because he was considered too old at 55.
On advice, he retrained and qualified as a teacher’s aide then sought employment. Was told by the education system they would love to employ him but it did not have the funding to employ more teachers’ aides.
professori_au

Professor, not too much wrong with your ideas mate, BUT, they just don't work, here in Oz.

The miners are still managing, but it costs them tens of millions jumping through totally unnecessary hoops for years to get things off the ground.

Hawever when someone tries to set up to make something with those resources, the green hoopla usually destroys them.

Look at the project to produce magnesium castings, for the world auto indusrty. They had the whole program, from ore to high tech product, & the markets, but government, far too mindful of the green vote destroyed the company with delays.

Look at the rusting plant, near Gladstone, that was producing oil from shale, at a profitable cost, when oil was cheeper than it is now, but another government, frightend of the greenies, let it be killed.

You've got to be mad to do anything useful in this country. Do something totally useless, the greens will love you, & you'll probably get a tax payer subsidy, but try something uesful, & you'll find yourself shat on, from a very great height