2/03/2026
Robert Murphy FIEP was just one of the huge range of Employability Services leaders to attend the IEP Summit Australia last October in Sydney.
As Head of Employment Services at SSI, we were privileged to have Robert share his vast experience and broad perspective of our sector.
He caught up with our team for a quick chat on the day, commenting on the challenges facing the sector during a period of significant change.
“We’re looking for more stability within the sector, so we’re able to promote the sector as a professional service for attracting staff and maintaining staff,” he says.
“But with that in itself comes a lot of challenges around finding new sites, moving to new areas and there’s a little bit of continuity that’s missed within the services.
“And another challenge is the change in work, our workplace dynamics, particularly around skill shortages and around demands and needs from employers.
“We have the AI revolution that is amongst us at the moment and pivoting skills for our participants, the people we serve and support with employers, provides a unique set of challenges because one strategy today could easily change based on technology and its movements.
“So one of the real key challenges is for us, as Employment Service providers and as a group here at IEP, and those around us, is finding a way that we can really navigate that in a successful fashion that meets the needs of the labour market, the employers, but more importantly to the marginalised, the unemployed that we do serve within our caseloads.
“That is not an easy answer to come up with for sure, but we certainly need to work as a collective to really bind together to find what works best, what we can plan for and how we can achieve it in that changing landscape in the workforce.”
You can learn more about our Summit Australia 2026 and book your place here.