Business groups and Unions together on job pitch to Abbott - Toowoomba Chronicle

NEW JOBS boards need to be created in areas of high unemployment, like the Fraser Coast in Queensland and Northern Rivers in New South Wales, to help provide more jobs.

That was the take-out from a rare alliance of unions, social services groups and the business sector, pitching the idea publicly to the Abbott government on Monday.

The group, including the Australian Council of Social Service, Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Business Council of Australia, called for new "regional employment boards".

Key to the "partnerships approach" would be helping long-term unemployed people get and stay in jobs, in areas of entrenched unemployment, with the regional boards helping direct where resources should go.

The proposal would create "networks in regions with high unemployment to promote employment partnerships" with employers, industry groups, unions and training providers all involved.

ACOSS chief executive Dr Cassandra Goldie said such groups would help ensure the right training was delivered to the right people and "ensure lasting employment outcomes".

"It is critical that people currently excluded from the labour market are given support to participate, and at the same time, employers need to have a direct line of sight to disadvantaged jobseekers," she said.

BCA chief executive Jennifer Westacott said a better partnership in the employment services system would also help match people to the needs of employers, "the other crucial half of a successful job match".

While the proposal is yet to be official, the groups have called on both the Abbott government to create a national trial, with bigger employers and regional trials focused on a "network of regional employers".