Policy and Communications team
Since 1989 Jobs Australia has been active in developing policy on behalf of the nonprofit sector and advising Commonwealth and State governments about effective programs to engage unemployed and disadvantaged people with the labour market and their communities.
Policy development at Jobs Australia is directed at finding and recommending the most effective ways to get disadvantaged people into jobs on a sustainable basis, and by doing so, ending the poverty and hardship caused by unemployment.
Policy work is a frequently difficult reconciliation between what is desirable and what is possible, but it has been made very rewarding by the inspiring example of the many wonderful organisations and individuals in the Jobs Australia network.
 |
Dr May Lam - Deputy CEO & Policy Manager May has worked in policy and research roles in Australia and the UK over the last 17 years across the community, private and government sectors. She worked with Jobs Australia between 1992 and 2005 in policy and communications. Between 2005 and 2008 she worked for the private welfare to work company Ingeus and for the Department of Work and Pensions on comparative performance measurement. At the Brotherhood of St Laurence she designed and won funding for the Centre for Work and Learning in the Fitzroy. At the social enterprise development company Social Traders in 2010 she was Policy and Strategy Manager. Her interests are in citizen participation in employment services design, social enterprises, and how social impact and social value can be measured and reported. |
 |
Janet Chimonyo - Policy Officer Janet joined the Jobs Australia team in January 2005 after spending several years working as a consultant on policy and research projects at state and local government level. A particular focus of much of this work was to produce written materials that communicate ideas with clarity and brevity. Previous work included teaching and freelance journalism. Janet has come into the area of employment services at an extremely exciting moment. Not only is the welfare landscape undergoing seismic change, but the challenge for our members to identify their role as nonprofit organisations and remain true to the vision of service for disadvantaged jobseeker has never been more pronounced. Contact Janet for information and advice about: Language, Literacy and Numeracy Programme, Indigenous Employment Programmes, issues related to the charitable status and governance of nonprofit organisations. |
 |
Simone Casey - Communications and Information Officer Simone joined Jobs Australia in late 2004 after 8 years in the UK where she worked for a nonprofit organisation developing web-based resources and information for social services departments. Prior to that she worked in management at the University of Melbourne. Contact Simone for issues relating to our website and communications, sole parents, people with disabilities and Work for the Dole. |
 |
Kate Connelly - Policy Officer Kate joined the policy team at Jobs Australia early in 2010. She comes from a background of academia where she has spent over a decade teaching, researching and lecturing. Upon her return from a two year stint in the US, Kate began working at The University of Melbourne on a joint research project with Jobs Australia on low income Australians. During this time, she developed key areas of interest including long-term unemployment, and welfare-to-work issues for single mothers and youth. Kate holds a PhD in sociology and is the author of a number of papers and reports on women's working conditions, the adequacy of the Age Pension and experiences of poverty. Kate lives in Melbourne with her husband and two daughters. |
