APM (ASX:APM), a major Australia-based job provider, has been accused of claiming it referred a jobseeker into work she got herself, according to documents seen by The Guardian. In July, a New South Wales woman, who asked for her name not to be used, found herself a job as a youth worker just as she was matched with employment service provider APM. The jobseeker says she had signed the contract for the job and started the onboarding process before she had started with APM. At an appointment with the provider, she told them she had secured a position. APM has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

Welfare advocates claim Australia’s unemployment system has rewarded job service providers, even when they have not helped jobseekers. Job providers receive public funding for helping people get into work but are not paid just for referring people to jobs. Providers receive payments after jobseekers stay in jobs for four, 12, and 26 weeks.

APM said it could not comment on specific cases due to confidentiality and privacy. “However, we reject any suggestions we acted unlawfully, unethically or breached Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) contract guidelines relating to Workforce Australia,” a spokesperson said. “APM fully complies with DEWR guidelines and regulations relating to Workforce Australia and are subject to its rigorous compliance requirements.”

APM started in 1994 as a small team in Perth, Western Australia, providing vocational rehabilitation for injured workers. Today, it is an international human services provider with locations across Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Europe, North America, and Asia. The company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and reported annual revenue of AUD 1,896.4 million (USD 1,288.9 million) for the year ending 30 June 2023.

Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union welfare advocate Jeremy Poxon called on the department to take such issues more seriously. A recent inquiry into the Workforce Australia system chaired by Labour MP Julian Hill and established by the employment minister, Tony Burke, declared the system was frequently ineffective but was still set to cost more than AUD 9.5 billion (USD 6.4 billion) over the next four years.