Psychological Distress in Australian Case Managers Working with the Unemployed.

This study reports levels of psychological distress found in a sample of Australian case managers who work with the unemployed. Using a longitudinal survey methodology, 86 case managers employed throughout Australia completed the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ–12; D. P. Goldberg, 1978) on 2 occasions during 1999. In comparison with other studies investigating psychological wellbeing of both employed and unemployed individuals, case manager respondents in this study reported significantly higher levels of psychological morbidity than levels reported for employed Australians and similar morbidity levels to those reported by unemployed Australians. Skills training seemed to moderate psychological distress levels reported by female case managers. This research was conducted following a time of great change in the way employment services were delivered in Australia. Historically, publicly funded employment services in this country have been delivered directly by the Australian Federal Government through a national employment agency, the Commonwealth Employment Service. In response to high unemployment rates and the prevailing mood of economic rationalization of public expenditures, successive Australian Federal Governments during the 1990s have progressively privatized the delivery of services to the unemployed. The resulting national employment service is known as the Job Network, a term that encompasses a diverse range of welfare, community, and private sector organizations now competing with each other to assist the unemployed in finding employment. Within the Job Network framework, employment services are delivered to the long-term unemployed, that is, to those individuals who have been continuously unemployed for 12 months or more, through an individually focused service-delivery strategy referred to as intensive assistance. It is the well-being of the personnel delivering intensive assistance to the long-term unemployed that is the focus of this study. The

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