Centrelink hands over clients'tax details to Job Active sub-contractor Ability Options without client consent-Ability has right to "reverse market" client details
by Ganesh Sahathevan
Centerlink and the Department of Human Services (DHS) have relayed Centrelink client details to a JobActive subcontractor Ability Options, which is excluded from any privacy provisions.In some instances Centrelink has compelled clients to provide that information.
Ability Options acts as some type of subcontractor for Olympus Solutions Ltd, a JobActive contractor, awarded that contract by the Department of Employment (DEEWR).
Job seekers sign Centrelink "Job Plans" that are managed, and signed in the name of Olympus ,the DHS, and Centrelink. Entering into a Job Plan is compulsory , so clients have no choice but to sign. The Job Plan makes reference to privacy issues, but nowhere in the "Job Plan" is Ability Options mentioned, and clients are not made aware of the arrangement between Olympus and Ability Options. That arrangement in itself maybe illegal, and Ability is deflecting any blame to DEEWR Secretary Renee Leon.
The Job Plan is used to enforce provision of any information, and this is often done under threat of financial penalty. This information often involves information on earnings, as well as taxes paid and other details that any tax payer would normally only provide the Australian Tax Office.
What Ability does with that information is unclear for apart from its doubtful Centrelink like functions, handed to it by Olympus, it also has the right to "reverse market" client information.What "reverse marketing" might mean is left undefined,but a clue might lie in the fact that Olympus's founder Fred Van Steel is also CEO of Ability. Van Steel's previous business went bust, and the DEEWR contract is an opportunity to resurrect his business career.
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See also
Centrelink clients may be entitled to millions in compensation- JobActive provider Ability Options may not be authorizeed to deal with clients highly confidential, private information
by Ganesh Sahathevan
Centrelink clients who are subject to Job Active and Department of Employment (DEEWR) orders may be entitled to millions in compensation for extensive breaches of privacy from the Commonwealth and Ability Options, a job service provider not contracted by the DEEWR but to whom Centrelink and the DEEWR direct clients, and compel provision of personal details
Ability claims to have delegated powers from the Secretary DEEWR, Rene Leon as result of some arrangement it has with Olympus Solutions Ltd, which has been awarded a JobAcive contract by the DEEWR. Ability claims it has been sub-contracted by Olympus, and with that comes its powers.
Ability also describes itself as "one and the same" as Olympus (ie the same company, but different names,separate legal entities!) ,and/or Olympus's parent company.
If this delegation is in fact valid it will include the delegation of powers to carry out the work once performed solely by Centrelink ,including the power to cancel Centrelink payments. While delegation and sub-delegation of powers within an organisation is necessary for the sake of efficiency, a sub-delegation of almost all, if not all powers, including the power to impose penalties, is difficult to understand,It is a bit like the Commonwealth delegating to a mercenary force not merely a fee for fighting the war, but the power to decide if the country should go to war.
Ms Leon has refused to answer queries about Ability, and it is unlikely that Ability has the powers it claims to have.This seems to be a case of a typical civil service bungle, from the head down, with all parties doing the best they can to keep matters under wraps.
It is important to remember that many Centrelink clients have difficulty with English and are new to the country.Many also struggle with mental health issues.It is these that Ability deals with and
compels the handing over of private information, using it to enforce so called "activities" .These "activities" are important, to Ability for this is the basis of the millions it is handed by Ms Leon.
A class action would be one way in which the many affected by this "sub-delegation" and others like it might come together to seek from Ability, the Commonwealth, the DEEWR and the the Department of Human Services which manages Centrelink whatever compensation they are entitled to.Given the extent of the breach, the sum could run into the very many millions.
END
Reference
Centrelink clients who are subject to Job Active and Department of Employment (DEEWR) orders may be entitled to millions in compensation for extensive breaches of privacy from the Commonwealth and Ability Options, a job service provider not contracted by the DEEWR but to whom Centrelink and the DEEWR direct clients, and compel provision of personal details
Ability claims to have delegated powers from the Secretary DEEWR, Rene Leon as result of some arrangement it has with Olympus Solutions Ltd, which has been awarded a JobAcive contract by the DEEWR. Ability claims it has been sub-contracted by Olympus, and with that comes its powers.
Ability also describes itself as "one and the same" as Olympus (ie the same company, but different names,separate legal entities!) ,and/or Olympus's parent company.
If this delegation is in fact valid it will include the delegation of powers to carry out the work once performed solely by Centrelink ,including the power to cancel Centrelink payments. While delegation and sub-delegation of powers within an organisation is necessary for the sake of efficiency, a sub-delegation of almost all, if not all powers, including the power to impose penalties, is difficult to understand,It is a bit like the Commonwealth delegating to a mercenary force not merely a fee for fighting the war, but the power to decide if the country should go to war.
Ms Leon has refused to answer queries about Ability, and it is unlikely that Ability has the powers it claims to have.This seems to be a case of a typical civil service bungle, from the head down, with all parties doing the best they can to keep matters under wraps.
It is important to remember that many Centrelink clients have difficulty with English and are new to the country.Many also struggle with mental health issues.It is these that Ability deals with and
compels the handing over of private information, using it to enforce so called "activities" .These "activities" are important, to Ability for this is the basis of the millions it is handed by Ms Leon.
A class action would be one way in which the many affected by this "sub-delegation" and others like it might come together to seek from Ability, the Commonwealth, the DEEWR and the the Department of Human Services which manages Centrelink whatever compensation they are entitled to.Given the extent of the breach, the sum could run into the very many millions.
END
Reference
JUL
9
Canberra civil service head Renee Leon, , a failed printer, and a multi-million dollar JobActive contract for directing job seekers to the CareerOne website
by Ganesh Sahathevan
Secretary of the Department of Unemployment,
Secretary of the Department of Unemployment,
Renee Leon.
In 2015 the Department of Employment and its head, Renee Leon, awarded a JobActive contract to Olympus Solutions Pty Ltd, a company controlled by one Fred Van Steel, whose previous business , Chippendale Printing went into liquidation leaving some 200 workers without a livelihood..
Van Steel's Linkedin profile shows little if any experience in recruiting or anything related to job placement.If anything his Chippendale Printing was an example of how workers can, without any warning, be be left without a livelihood by business owners and managers.
Reports on the matter said:
The fate of up to 200 employees is in question as Sydney company Chippendale Printing entered voluntary administration, just over a week after it claimed to be merging with now-defunct printer Beaver Press.
Chippendale managing director Fred Van Steel told ProPrint on Thursday 8 April the company was not in any financial trouble, despite persistent rumours claiming it was struggling.
"Quite the contrary, Chippendale has had very strong support from [private equity owners] Helmsman, who are continuing to provide strong financial support," he said.
On 8 April, both Van Steel and Beaver general manager David Francis toldProPrint they had reached a 'heads of agreement' over a merger of the companies, though this is now in doubt with both companies now in the hands of administrators.
The JobActive contract the Department and Leon awarded is estimated at AUD 50 million a year for the next 3-5 years. In securing the contract Van Steel and Olympus claimed, foreshadowing Malcolm Turnnbull's "agile and innovative" mantra, a new trademarked method of helping job seekers find work- access via the Olympus IT system to the CareerOne website.
The Olympus CareerOne website has since been removed, but archived copies can be sighted at
https://web.archive.org/web/20151005002054/http://olympus.careerone.com.au/
The Department and Leon have ignored repeated queries about their award of a contract for services that include a significant component that is freely available, and has been so in the public domain for a very long time.
Olympus Solutions has the capability to service large and small employers nationally with a one stop shop solution based on a succinct and streamlined national response to employment needs of businesses right across Australia, at no cost to the employer.
Two of the founding partners of Olympus Solutions, Fred Van Steel CEO of Ability Options and Ross Lewis, CEO of Break Thru People Solutions, pictured here, met prior to Christmas to discuss the joint venture’s innovative approach to employment and employer relations
In 2015 the Department of Employment and its head, Renee Leon, awarded a JobActive contract to Olympus Solutions Pty Ltd, a company controlled by one Fred Van Steel, whose previous business , Chippendale Printing went into liquidation leaving some 200 workers without a livelihood..
Van Steel's Linkedin profile shows little if any experience in recruiting or anything related to job placement.If anything his Chippendale Printing was an example of how workers can, without any warning, be be left without a livelihood by business owners and managers.
Reports on the matter said:
The fate of up to 200 employees is in question as Sydney company Chippendale Printing entered voluntary administration, just over a week after it claimed to be merging with now-defunct printer Beaver Press.
Chippendale managing director Fred Van Steel told ProPrint on Thursday 8 April the company was not in any financial trouble, despite persistent rumours claiming it was struggling.
"Quite the contrary, Chippendale has had very strong support from [private equity owners] Helmsman, who are continuing to provide strong financial support," he said.
On 8 April, both Van Steel and Beaver general manager David Francis toldProPrint they had reached a 'heads of agreement' over a merger of the companies, though this is now in doubt with both companies now in the hands of administrators.
The JobActive contract the Department and Leon awarded is estimated at AUD 50 million a year for the next 3-5 years. In securing the contract Van Steel and Olympus claimed, foreshadowing Malcolm Turnnbull's "agile and innovative" mantra, a new trademarked method of helping job seekers find work- access via the Olympus IT system to the CareerOne website.
The Olympus CareerOne website has since been removed, but archived copies can be sighted at
https://web.archive.org/web/20151005002054/http://olympus.careerone.com.au/
The Department and Leon have ignored repeated queries about their award of a contract for services that include a significant component that is freely available, and has been so in the public domain for a very long time.
Printer turned joob placement expert,
Fred Van Steele
END
References
Fred Van Steel CEO of Ability Options and Ross
Lewis, CEO of Break Thru People Solutions
Australia’s pre-eminent employmentOlympus Solutions has the capability to service large and small employers nationally with a one stop shop solution based on a succinct and streamlined national response to employment needs of businesses right across Australia, at no cost to the employer.
Two of the founding partners of Olympus Solutions, Fred Van Steel CEO of Ability Options and Ross Lewis, CEO of Break Thru People Solutions, pictured here, met prior to Christmas to discuss the joint venture’s innovative approach to employment and employer relations
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