Media Release by Senator the Hon Amanda Vanstone

400 New Personal Advisers To Help Needy Australians

Centrelink has started advertising today for over 400 Personal Adviser positions as an important part of the Australians Working Together welfare reform package.

These new advisers will provide individualised assistance to Centrelink customers who have social or economic barriers that prevent them from finding a job.

Groups targeted for assistance from Personal Advisers include eligible mature age workers, people on Parenting Payment whose youngest child is six or over, Indigenous Australians, people recently released from prison, and people exempt from activity testing.

This new individualised service will begin in September 2002. In total, 850 new staff will be employed as Personal Advisers. The other 450 to follow over the next two years. People will be recruited from across Australia to fill these positions (see attached list below).

Personal advisers will work with specialists, both internal and external to Centrelink, in order to select the most appropriate pathway and services for the customer.

Based on the customer’s individual needs and aspirations, Personal Advisers will work with them to identify goals and agree a plan. Part of the plan may include referrals to relevant community organisations who can help customers achieve their desired economic or social participation goals.

The new positions will be advertised in the Commonwealth Gazette on 11 April 2002, with advertisements also placed in the employment sections of regional and national newspapers around the same day. Information is also available on the Centrelink website, under ‘working at Centrelink’ at www.centrelink.gov.au.

NSW

  • Parramatta
  • Mt Druitt
  • Penrith
  • Lithgow
  • Sydney
  • Wollongong
  • Nowra
  • Wagga
  • Dubbo
  • Orange
  • Albury
  • Narooma
  • Newcastle
  • Gosford
  • Tamworth
  • Port Macquarie
  • Taree
  • Maitland
  • Liverpool
  • Moree
  • Coffs Harbour
  • Lismore

VICTORIA

  • Eureka Wimmera
  • Lodden Murray
  • Geelong
  • Colac
  • Essendon
  • Footscray
  • Benalla
  • Melbourne
  • Bairnsdale
  • Camberwell
  • Cheltenham
  • Cranbourne
  • Dandenong
  • Fountain Gate Frankston
  • Glen Waverly
  • Knox Cluster
  • Mornington & Rosebud
  • Morwell
  • Oakleigh
  • Sale
  • Springvale
  • Warragul

QLD

  • Bundaberg
  • Maryborough
  • Gympie
  • Kingaroy
  • Sunshine Coast
  • Brisbane
  • Toowoomba
  • Roma
  • Palm Beach
  • Southport
  • Ipswich
  • Logan
  • Cairns
  • Townsville
  • Mt Isa
  • Mackay
  • Capricornia

NT

  • Alice Springs
  • Tangentyre
  • Tennant Creek
  • Darwin
  • Katherine

WA

  • Broome
  • Kununurra
  • Derby
  • Nhulunbuy
  • Albany
  • Bunbury
  • Kalgoorlie
  • South Hedland
  • Karratha
  • Carnarvon
  • Geraldton
  • Perth

SA

  • Adelaide
  • Port Augusta
  • Berri
  • Broken Hill
  • Kadina
  • Murray Bridge
  • Mount Gambier
  • Port Lincoln
  • Ceduna

ACT

  • Canberra

TAS

  • Launceston
  • Hobart
  • Devonport

* These are indicative areas only. This is not an exhaustive list of all locations.