The role of social procurement policies and cross‐sector partnerships in addressing youth unemployment: A construction industry case study from Australia

Ariella Meltzer; Martin Loosemore; Jo Barraket; Robyn Keast; Abigail Powell; Kristy Muir; George Denny-Smith

doi:10.1111/1467-8500.12635

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The role of social procurement policies and cross‐sector partnerships in addressing youth unemployment: A construction industry case study from Australia

Journal article

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The role of social procurement policies and cross‐sector partnerships in addressing youth unemployment: A construction industry case study from Australia

Ariella Meltzer, Martin Loosemore, Jo Barraket, Robyn Keast, Abigail Powell, Kristy Muir and George Denny-Smith

Australian journal of public administration, Vol.83(4), pp.546-564

12/2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12635

Appears in Recent Faculty of Business, Law and Arts Publications

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Abstract

cross-sector partnerships

social procurement

youth unemployment

In Australia, 9.4% of young people aged 15–24 are unemployed, more than double the national rate. The national employment services system in Australia has, however, not successfully tackled this issue. While some wraparound programs have been implemented to better address young people's needs, most are designed to find young people any job rather than being tailored towards a specific career. Despite governments encouraging solutions that involve cross-sector collaboration with private businesses, the potential of industry-specific solutions has been less well-explored. Addressing this gap, this paper presents an in-depth case study of how one major Australian construction company has implemented an industry-specific collaborative wraparound program to address youth unemployment, called the Connectivity Centre model (CCM). The paper discusses the features of this model that make it distinctive compared to other programs supporting young people's employment. It also discusses how the policy context of social procurement (policies generating social value through procurement processes) and cross-sector collaboration incentivise the model. The policy implications are explored, highlighting how models like the CCM offer a complementary alternative to other unemployment supports available to young jobseekers in Australia. Points for practitioners - Social procurement policies incentivise private companies’ involvement in youth unemployment programs, including utilising their cross-sector networks. - Private companies’ involvement enables youth unemployment programs that reflect the same benefits as wraparound programs in intensive/personalised support while providing more industry specificity. - This set of characteristics is unique and complementary within Australia's youth unemployment support landscape.

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Title: The role of social procurement policies and cross‐sector partnerships in addressing youth unemployment: A construction industry case study from Australia
Creators: Ariella Meltzer - UNSW Sydney
Martin Loosemore - University of Technology Sydney
Jo Barraket - University of Melbourne
Robyn Keast - Southern Cross University
Abigail Powell - University of Lincoln
Kristy Muir - UNSW Sydney
George Denny-Smith - RPS Social Advisory and Research (Delft, The Netherlands)
Publication Details: Australian journal of public administration, Vol.83(4), pp.546-564
Publisher: Wiley
Number of pages: 19
Grant note: Australian Research Council. Grant Number: LP170100670
Identifiers: 991013181792702368
Copyright: © 2024 The Authors. Australian Journal of Public Administration published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Institute of Public Administration Australia. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. Open access publishing facilitated by University of New South Wales, as part of the Wiley - University of New South Wales agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.
Academic Unit: Management; Faculty of Business, Law and Arts
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

The role of social procurement policies and cross‐sector partnerships in addressing youth unemployment: A construction industry case study from Australia

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