Researchers from the Social Research Centre and ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods have released an evaluation of the Australian Government's Work for the Dole program for 2014/2015.

This research demonstrates the close relationship between the Social Research Centre and Centre for Social Research and Methods, producing research for government and industry clients as well as for academic publication.

Key findings from the evaluation include:

Skills and experience gained

• 83 per cent agreed that Work for the Dole is an opportunity to give back to the community
• 78 per cent said their Host Organisation was willing to teach them new skills
• 72 per cent said they were given a choice of tasks to do
• 67 per cent said they were interested in the things they were doing

Management of placement

• 79 per cent agreed that the routine was good for them
• 74 per cent said their placement was well organised
• 41 per cent said they were easily able to manage their paid work and their WfD placement
• 36 per cent said they were easily able to manage their study and their WfD placement

Employment prospects

• 52 per cent said they had learned new skills in their WfD placement
• 54 per cent said they thought WfD participation had improved their chances of getting a job a little or a lot (24 per cent and 30 per cent respectively)

Job Seeker satisfaction

• 81 per cent said they were treated like a valuable member of staff
• 81 per cent said they were satisfied with the amount of responsibility they were given
• 76 per cent said they were satisfied with the amount of work
• 74 per cent said they were satisfied with the variety of tasks
• 68 per cent agreed that their placement was a valuable experience

Host Organisations’ experiences

• Most host organisations had previous experience with volunteers.
• Host organisations demonstrated a commitment to providing opportunities to WfD participants.
• Host organisations saw WfD as an opportunity to undertake activities and complete tasks they would otherwise not have resources to do.
• Some host organisations found that participation in the programme helped to provide them with financial stability and a raised profile in the community.

Provider perspectives

• The rapid introduction of the programme meant that access to supporting documentation and guidelines was delayed and there were some resulting initial difficulties.
• Shifting the way day to day operations are performed takes time and with the short lead in to the introduction of the programme it was not possible to have the programme operating as intended from the day of its introduction.
• Providers valued regular discussions with State Offices.
• Many providers felt that the name of the programme, “Work for the Dole”, did not emphasise the value of work experience to job seekers and could be a hindrance to engaging them with the programme.