The Coalition Government has been a curse for Australia’s unemployed. In addition to refusing to lift Australia’s disgracefully low Newstart Allowance:
The Coalition’s $65 million a year Work-for-the-Dole program has been an unmitigated failure, whereas its Youth-Jobs PaTH program has become a slave labour scheme in disguise.
Now we can add the Coalition’s $7.3 billion Jobactive program, which has been labelled “punitive” and a “harsh bureaucratic nightmare” for job seekers by a new Senate report. From The Guardian:
The inquiry report, released late last week, called for an overhaul of the program, which was resulting in people gaining employment “in spite of Jobactive, not because of it”.
“Jobactive is not welfare to work, it is welfare to nowhere,” the report said. “The government’s punitive and paternalistic approach to employment services has failed”…
“Participants are missing paid employment to attend appointments with their Jobactive provider,” the report said…
“The requirement to apply for 20 jobs every month burdens employers who are receiving masses of poor quality applications often from people who are not suited for the position”…
Labor has said it will consider changes to Work for the Dole, but Siewert said the program should also be abolished.
Hopefully a Labor Government would abolish these wasteful and punitive schemes, as well as lift Australia’s pitifully low Newstart Allowance.
