Lifelong welfare of 100,000 bludgers costs $15 billion

EXCLUSIVE: More than 100,000 jobseekers locked in a cycle of welfare dependency for at least five years are costing taxpayers more than $15 billion.

Human Services Minister Alan Tudge is cracking down on bludgers.

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MORE than 100,000 jobseekers have become dependent on government handouts and cost taxpayers more than $15 billion over the past decade, new data has revealed.

The Sunday Telegraph has obtained new figures that almost 19,000 Australians have been receiving Newstart payments continuously for 10 years at a cost of $2.7 billion.

A further 88,816 people have received the jobseeker payments non-stop for between five and 10 years, costing a further $12.6 billion.

And more than half of all welfare recipients who have received continuous cash handouts for the past decade began in their 20s and 30s — the prime of their “working” lives.

Jobseekers who meet obligations such as interviews and training are more likely to get off welfare and find work.

The federal government is using new data analysing techniques to target high-risk groups and identify signs that these people could remain on government payments for life.

The latest data indicates that jobseekers who meet their mutual obligations — job interviews, training courses or jobseeker programs — are more likely to get off welfare and find work.

In 2016, a jobseeker who breached Centrelink rules once was more than three times more likely to go off the payments compared to a repeat offender.

Of the 34,358 jobseekers who failed to meet their obligations more than 10 times, 30,073 — or 88 per cent — still remain on Newstart.

Under pressure to cut the $160-billion-a-year welfare bill, the Turnbull Government unveiled a driver-style demerit point system for welfare recipients in its May Budget that will see payments axed for up to a month if they fail look for work, attend interviews, or accept a suitable job.

Australian Council of Social Services chief executive Cassandra Goldie slammed the move, saying Australia already has one of the toughest compliance systems in the OECD.

But Human Services Minister Alan Tudge said the strict new measures will help identify those who consistently fail to meet job search requirements and are at risk of ending up on benefits for years.

“We know that people who actively job search are more likely to get work,” Mr Tudge said.

“We are tightening the compliance system to identify those who have serious problems but also ensure those who are aren’t doing the right thing face consequences.

He said long-term welfare dependency is “a poison on capable people” and it was important to target jobseekers before they fell into the welfare trap.

“The longer you are on welfare, the steeper the road is back to employment,” he said.