BY BILL MASON
BRISBANE — Reinforcing long-held suspicions about scams in the Howard government's Job Network, one of the largest private employment organisations in the network, Leonie Green and Associates, has been ordered to repay $70,000 it received in funding from the federal government for finding "phantom jobs" for the unemployed.
Leonie Green, the head of the organisation, has been forced to stand aside as head of the industry peak body, the National Employment Services Association, while investigations continue into the alleged scam.
Labor opposition employment spokesperson Cheryl Kernot has alleged that network agencies are pocketing the $350 job placement fee paid by the government and yet sacking the jobless after they work a minimum 15 hours over five days in labour hire firms.
The person is paid about $150 for the 15 hours' work, leaving the job agency with a profit of about $200.
Employment department officers raided all 69 offices of Leonie Green and Associates, and interviewed hundreds of unemployed people who were referred to its front company, Anchorage Labour Hire, since January this year.