Description
Why a Job Guarantee is Needed Now
Explore how a public job guarantee could transform Australia by ending unemployment, strengthening communities, and delivering economic justice.
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Introduction – Why Work Matters
Location: Western Sydney, 2023.
Daniel, 32, stands in a Centrelink queue again. A trained youth mentor, he’s applied for over 120 jobs in six months. His daughter asks, “Why can’t you go to work like Mum?” The question stings. It’s not that Daniel doesn’t want to work—there aren’t enough decent jobs.
This is not just Daniel’s story. Across Australia, jobseekers are punished for not finding what doesn’t exist. Despite our nation’s wealth and sovereign control of its currency, millions are still underutilised or unemployed. The truth? Unemployment is a political choice. A job guarantee is the moral and economic alternative.
The Problem: Involuntary Unemployment Is Engineered
The False Promise of Market Full Employment
Australia’s unemployment rate, currently touted at around 4%, hides a grim truth: over 1.5 million Australians are underemployed or have given up looking. Many are trapped in casual or gig work with no security.
Thoughts: “I do everything right,” says single mum Fatima. “But every week, I worry whether I’ll have enough shifts to pay rent.”
This is no accident. Neoliberal policies deliberately support a buffer stock of unemployed to control inflation and discipline labour—the result: stagnant wages, growing inequality, and social despair.
Human and Economic Cost
Lost Potential, Broken Communities
Underemployment erodes identity and mental health. Young Australians face years of job insecurity. Communities hollow out as public services shrink. Indigenous Australians face unemployment rates triple the national average.
Anecdote: In outback Queensland, a retired teacher volunteers to teach reading at the local school because no paid support staff are available. Meanwhile, dozens of locals are still unemployed, desperate for meaningful work.
What if we designed an economy that ensured everyone who wants to work can contribute meaningfully?
A Public Job Guarantee
What Is a Job Guarantee?
A Job Guarantee (JG) is a federally funded, locally administered program that offers a public service job at a living wage to anyone ready and willing to work. It’s not workfare; it’s about the right to work with dignity.
What Kind of Jobs?
• Aged and disability care
• Bushfire prevention and climate resilience
• Community arts, literacy, mentoring
• Urban gardening, recycling, and restoration
A Stabiliser, not a Threat
JG acts as a buffer stock of employed, replacing the current reserve army of unemployed. It stabilises the economy in downturns and supplies skilled workers to the private sector in upswings.
How It Works: Australia’s Monetary Sovereignty
The Myth of ‘Taxpayer-Funded Jobs’
Thanks to monetary sovereignty, Australia does not need to ‘raise taxes’ to fund a Job Guarantee. As the currency issuer, the federal government can create money to utilise idle resources, including unemployed people.
Quote: Economist Dr. Steven Hail explains, “Unemployment is proof of government underspending. The public pays, corporations profit. A Job Guarantee flips this.”
Government spending is not limited by revenue but by real resource constraints: people, time, and skills.
International Evidence: Lessons from the World
Launched in 2002, this program employed over 2 million people, cutting extreme poverty while increasing local economic activity.
India’s NREGA
This rural job scheme legally guarantees households 100 days of paid work per year. It has lifted millions out of poverty and created vital infrastructure.
US and EU Pilots
Economists like Pavlina Tcherneva and Stephanie Kelton have modelled JGs that outperform basic income, poverty reduction, and economic stabilisation.
Benefits for Australia
• Reduces poverty and inequality.
• Revitalises rural and marginalised communities.
• Empowers local councils and grassroots innovation.
• Supports economic transitions. (climate, automation)
• Improves health, well-being, and civic participation.
Emotion: Imagine never fearing being left behind again—a safety net of purpose, not punishment.
Addressing the Critics
“It Will Be Inflationary”
Resource shortages, not employment, drive inflation. A JG uses underutilised labour, expanding supply capacity.
“It’s Just Make-Work”
Jobs would meet real community needs, which can be found locally. Demand is vast, from flood preparedness to elder care.
“Universal Basic Income Is Better”
UBI offers income, but not purpose, skill development, or social inclusion. A JG does all three.
Making It Happen in Australia
Who Runs It?
• Federally funded via the Treasury
• Designed in collaboration with state, territory, and local governments.
• Administered by a National Employment Authority with community input.
What It Costs
Estimates range from 1% to 3% of GDP, which is comparable to what we already spend on tax concessions for the wealthy.
Realignment: Shift spending from fossil fuel subsidies and tax loopholes to people and communities.
Reclaiming Work as a Right
Australians deserve the right to work and contribute meaningfully. A Job Guarantee ensures that right. It’s not radical—it’s economically sound, socially transformative, and morally just.
We have the tools, we have the need, and with Australia’s dollar sovereignty, we have the money. What we lack is the political will.
Q&A Section
Q1: What is the difference between a Job Guarantee and welfare?
A Job Guarantee offers meaningful paid work, while welfare offers subsistence support. One empowers, the other supports dependence.
Q2: Will a Job Guarantee cause inflation?
No. It uses idle resources and pays fixed wages. It stabilises inflation by anchoring price and wage expectations.
Q3: How is this funded?
Through Australia’s sovereign currency, the government creates the money, constrained only by real capacity—not by revenue.
Question for Readers
Have you or someone you know been stuck in insecure work or unemployment? How would a Job Guarantee have changed your life?
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The Job Guarantee is fantastic, we all need it and there are many more benefits arising from the JG than just being an employer of last resort: a JG is also an inflation reducing anchor for the price of labour especially during the high growth phase of economic cycles and replaces the horrible NAIRU that deliberately creates a target level of mass unemployment that literally destroys people; a JG provides a humane level of income/conditions floor to the whole nation’s workforce which wipes out the unscrupulous low pay/poor working condition employers (hello Walmart and Amazon) or forces them to up their game; the JG can always be the employer of last resort even under extreme circumstances such as the rapid adoption of AI; the JG automatically regulates the size of the fiscal deficit needed to maintain full employment and much of that additional fiscal space that becomes available as unemployment moves towards zero enables the government to spend more on the whole range of government programs that are considered important such as healthcare, education, pensions, infrastructure and so on; the JG provides job skills training and social support if needed; many useful social purposes can be performed by those in the JG such as aged care, environmental care, improving the urban environment and so many more and many of these jobs could become permanent jobs if deemed beneficial enough; the JG can allow industries to decline that are deemed to be harmful such as the fossil fuel industry without the social cost of former employees being unable to find suitable replacement jobs and the JG could eventually reduce the popularity of ‘cargo cult’ solutions to greater happiness such as the Universal Basic Income.
However I do have concerns about the administration of the Job Guarantee and can see that the oligarch class at the billionaire level and at the local level will strive to gain control over the administration of the JG to serve their purposes first and foremost and also deliberately corrupt the program in order to discredit it as even more socialist financial irresponsibility and as a gravy train for grifters. After all the oligarch class control the mainstream media, the corporate advertising machine, the entertainment industry, the private education system/madrasas, much of the commentariat/intelligentsia and the political/democratic process; and have nearly all of the electorate behaving like electoral sheep bleating unknowingly for the interests of the oligarch class. This power dynamic also prevents the JG and other worthy reforms from even being considered let alone implemented.
Hi Andreas,
Thank you for such a thoughtful and informed comment. You’ve captured the transformative potential of a Job Guarantee with remarkable clarity—from replacing the destructive NAIRU with a living wage anchor, to strengthening fiscal sustainability, community wellbeing, and worker empowerment.
Your emphasis on how the JG can help manage the transition away from harmful industries—such as fossil fuels—and support workers through technological changes like AI is essential. It positions the JG not just as a fallback, but as a strategic tool for economic justice and resilience.
You’re right, however, to raise concerns about administrative capture and sabotage. The oligarchic class has a long history of undermining progressive policies through co-option, underfunding, and media manipulation. As you note, their control over the press, politics, and education enables them to shape public perception against reforms that empower ordinary people.
That’s why any JG must be designed with democratic oversight, community participation, and transparency at its core. Consider citizen advisory boards, robust accountability measures, and transparent data on project outcomes. Without this, the risk of corruption or elite misuse is real.
As you say, the battle is not just economic—it’s informational and political. But if we can build a broad enough base of public understanding and civic will, reforms like the JG become not only possible, but inevitable.
I’d love to continue this conversation. Your analysis is both motivating and necessary.
Warm regards,
Denis
The content of this article really resonates with me, it’s an issue close to my heart.
However, there’s one overlooked category of “left behinds” that desperatly needs attention: older Australians who are still willing and able to work but find themselves excluded from both employment opportunities and social support systems.
Consider someone well past the official retirement age, still carrying a significant mortgage due to life circumstances. They lose their job suddenly and discover that, despite actively seeking work, they’re ineligible for unemployment benefits simply because they’re over 65.
You might think the age pension would be the next fallback. But it’s not that simple. If their spouse happens to own a modest property and a small holiday shack on the Central Coast, that’s enough to disqualify them. So now they’re caught in a brutal bind, unemployed, ineligible for income support, and forced to start selling off assets just to survive. The shack by the river? Sentimentally and emotionally significant, really don’t want to sell it, and wouldn’t even put a real dent in the mortgage anyway.
It’s hard enough for people in their 30s or 40s to find work, but imagine trying at 75. And this isn’t someone who’s out of touch, they’re in front with required certifications, continued professional development, and breakingt technology. They’re more than happy to stay out of the way and do quiet, competent work. They just need an income.
A genuine job guarantee or more inclusive support system would offer dignity and stability to people in this situation. It’s time we broaden the conversation and ensure no one is written off just because of their age.
Hi Robert,
Thank you for such a deeply moving and important comment. You’ve powerfully highlighted a reality that’s far too common and far too ignored—older Australians who are still capable, experienced, and willing to contribute, yet are excluded by a system designed around arbitrary age cut-offs and rigid asset tests.
Your example speaks directly to why a universal, federally funded Job Guarantee is so essential. It would be open to anyone ready and willing to work, regardless of age, background, or past hardships. That means no one is written off, and no one is forced to sell a lifetime of memories to get by.
We must move beyond policies that treat older Australians as burdens. With Australia’s monetary sovereignty, we have the means to ensure that everyone, including those past retirement age, can live with dignity, financial security, and purpose.
Thank you again for reminding us that the conversation must include all Australians.
Would you be open to sharing your story (anonymously if preferred) through our “Reader Feedback” page? Your voice deserves to be heard:
👉 https://socialjusticeaustralia.com.au/reader-feedback/
Warm regards,
Denis