Lifestyle site and women’s club Future Women, co-owned by Nine Entertainment, received $8.7 million across three years in the October budget to run a virtual training program to help women find work.
Future Women’s Job Academy will provide 2000 women aged over 40 with a 12-month program of networking, small group mentoring, webinars and training. The funding amounts to $1450 for each woman.
Outcomes from the pilot program, which wraps up next month, are yet to be released, though the Future Women website advertises that 91% of women reported “increased confidence”, 62% secured a job and 16% started studying.
Experts have questioned whether similar employment programs address structural causes or approach those in need. In comparison, $5.8 million was allocated across five years to support — and review — the Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship program.
Since 2018, Future Women has received $10.4 million in government grants, funding and tenders, with government departments funding employee memberships to the site.
Intertwined with Nine
Future Women was founded by Nine’s lifestyle head Helen McCabe and launched as a “women’s lifestyle site” in 2018, funded via individual subscriptions and group corporate subscriptions. The company’s manifesto states #MeToo “isn’t a moment, it’s a movement”.
Nine bought 80% of the business for $2.5 million in 2018 with plans to buy a further 20%, though it dropped 30% of its shares in 2020 for an undisclosed amount. Ownership is split equally between Nine Entertainment and a company registered at McCabe’s address. McCabe told The Australian in 2018 she had a stake in the company.
McCabe said Nine has pledged additional advertising space across its platforms to recruit women into Jobs Academy. 9Honey frequently features content on Future Women.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) documents two other Nine employees — Nine managing director Kylie Blucher and Nine chief product officer Rebecca Haagsma — as directors. Columnist Jamila Rizvi serves as deputy managing director but is not listed on ASIC documents.
McCabe’s niece, Amy McCabe, is the company’s “mentor manager”.
How effective is it?
The $8.7 million Jobs Academy funding is a continuation of funding announced in May by the previous government. McCabe told Crikey the grant was received after a “highly competitive and transparent Commonwealth government process” reviewed by two successive governments.
“The success of the program is undeniable,” McCabe said. Of the 140 women accepted into the pilot, one-quarter lived in regional, rural or remote areas, 41% came from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and nearly all had caring responsibilities. A breakdown of socioeconomic status was not provided.
Two-thirds of pilot participants landed a job via Jobs Academy, 30% of whom went into full-time work. Most women scored jobs in advertising, arts and media, followed by education and training, and IT.
Feminist academic Eva Cox labelled the program “fairly dubious” and warned that employment programs similar to Jobs Academy ignored workforce shortages and life skills of women over 45. The contentious ParentsNext program has been scrutinised in a parliamentary committee hearing this morning, criticised for wasting parents’ time via mandatory appointments and meetings (and in some instances forcing them to skip paid shifts to attend).
“Women of that age have difficulty getting jobs because young people don’t want to employ them … and the skills they already have aren’t recognised,” she said.
“But taking women who may lack skills and shoving them online to talk to each other … I just think it’s slightly tacky.”
Cox believes that women who have not been working because of caring roles could plug skills gaps in the aged and childcare sectors, but only if their life experiences were recognised and if wages were attractive.
Women’s advocate and consultant Kristine Ziwica told Crikey while she wasn’t necessarily opposed to employment services, the focus needed to remain on structural drivers of women’s economic insecurity.
“In Labor’s first Women’s Budget statement there was a laser-like focus on those structural drivers, including significant investment in early-years education and care, the undervaluing of women’s work, and parental leave reform,” she said.
“At scale, across the population, these will make a real difference to women, especially those experiencing a hefty ‘motherhood penalty’.”
Government cash splash
Future Women has received nearly $1.7 million in government tenders for subscriptions and training services, with the Australian Public Service Commission and the Department of Health and Aged Care signing up staff for platinum memberships with the organisation. The Australian Federal Police also spent $122,100 for “training and development services” across three years.
Future Women was also awarded $80,000 in 2020 by the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources to produce a podcast featuring entrepreneurs hosted by Today entertainment reporter Brooke Boney.
Along with government tenders, the company thrives on membership fees and events. Women can sign up for a red, gold or platinum membership, ranging from $48 to $950 a year, which gets them access to a virtual summit, mentoring sessions, member-only newsletters, Facebook groups, podcasts and ticket discounts. Events feature high-profile political figures, including Julia Gillard and Malcolm Turnbull’s former chiefs of staff. A two-day ticket to the company’s annual leadership summit in Sydney costs $2000.
Minister for Finance and Minister for Women Katy Gallagher didn’t respond to Crikey’s request for comment by deadline.
Instead of wasting tax-payer’s money on these ‘middle-class’ women and their employment opportunities, perhaps the government could re-open the Commonwealth Employment Service so those seeking work in lower paid jobs could have some assistance as well… without being ripped off by similar private job providers who don’t find anyone a job.
What a load of c==p these types of programs are…only for those with ‘connections’…while those who run such organisations rake in the money at taxpayer’s expense. Disgraceful!
Yes the CES is too simple. Employer seeks worker. CES puts card on board, Worker reads card and applies. Too simple and no opportunity for the private sector to rip a bit out of the system on the way through.
As a woman who returned to the work force three times after significant family life events this program seems ‘mickey mouse’. I needed to be able to demonstrate real skills eg time keeping, computer skills accounting skills and problem solving. Ageism was and is a major issue once you got past the fact I had children. Not easy and much more structural problems in employment. Learning to grin vacantly would not help.
Can they just BRING BACK THE CES.
Ever since Howard privatised the Commonwealth Employment Service there have been these companies just making loads of money for nothing.
The people who will find a job – will find a job anyway – but these businesses are getting paid – what? $5k to get work for them when THEY find their own jobs. OR they do the dodgiest deals with ’employers’ to get the job for the worker, but the job is not long term or secure.
It is just like the privatisation of the NDIS – all these middle men administrators getting paid a motza to do administration – or ‘hooking up’ while the people supposed to be getting the money – the provider or the disabled – get hardly anything.
Bring back the CES.
Sounds like a variation of Business Chicks, all glitter and hype and no real substance.