Federation University Australia

The program is focused on those mature age jobseekers who present with a range of barriers to employment and require intensive assistance if they are to become work ready. They will often, although not always, be long-term unemployed and likely present with a complex array of personal and social circumstances requiring intensive support. The target group will be qualitatively different from the typical client going through the Career Assistance Program for jobseekers aged over 45, targeting those requiring significant additional assistance to that focused on transferable skills and the better targeting of job-search provided via Call To Action. In order to improve clients’ digital literacy, and in response COVID-19, the program will be delivered entirely online. It adds significant value by being designed as an action research project to identify this jobseeker cohort’s barriers and needs and learnings to be applied to improving the delivery of the program in real time and that can inform the development of future, similar, programs.