Young job seekers no longer forced to wait six months for dole payments

YOUNG Australians who want the dole were told last year they’d have to wait six months to collect any cash. Now that time has been slashed.

Pictured at Inspire Church in Hoxton Park is Mitchell Wilkinson 18 , Jayde Richards 22 and Tony Vorachit 19 all of whom are studying part time but are all job seekers. Picture: Richard Dobson

THE Abbott government has backed down on its controversial policy to force young unemployed Australians to wait six months before accessing welfare payments, slashing the wait time to four weeks for under 25s.

The harsh measure, which was a key component of last year’s budget but remained stalled in the Senate, was replaced with a one-month waiting period for jobseekers under 25.

Instead, the federal government has committed to a package of new incentives to get young people off the dole under a new $331 million Youth Employment Strategy.

“The level of youth unemployment in Australia is too high,” Treasurer Joe Hockey said in his budget speech.

Pictured at Inspire Church in Hoxton Park is Mitchell Wilkinson 18 , Jayde Richards 22 and Tony Vorachit 19 all of whom are studying part time but are all job seekers. Picture: Richard Dobson

Community workers in areas of high unemployment will be paid to reach out to young disengaged people between the ages of 15 and 21 and provide them with support services including intensive case management, one-on-one mentoring, or literacy and numeracy training.

The $212 million scheme is designed to get young unemployed people ‘job ready’ and replaces the former Labor government’s Youth Connections program which ceased last year.

Further ‘intensive support’ will be provided for job seekers who are deemed to be particularly vulnerable, including people with mental health or English language challenges.

Just over $18 million will be spent on a National Work Experience program which will allow welfare recipients to continue to collect their dole cheques while they undertake up to four weeks of work experience.

But further compliance measures will be rolled out, with welfare recipients who miss appointments or work for the dole commitments being subjected to immediate penalties, such as payment suspensions, in a move designed to save the government $6.9 million over three years.

Job in the Employment Section of Newspaper

And from January 1, any young person who drops out of high school and is not studying or working will be required to undertake 25 hours a week of education or a combination of work and training to access regular welfare payments.

The federal government will also role several employment subsidy programs, including the Restart program designed to encourage businesses to take on mature workers and the $6,500 Youth Employment Subsidy, into a single $1.2 billion wage subsidy pool.

The changes will mean employers who take on mature workers will be able to receive the $10,000 subsidy over a 12 month period, rather than the current 24 months.

Welfare cheats will also face a crackdown under the budget, with $1.5 billion predicted to be saved by boosting the capacity of authorities to detect and investigate suspected fraudsters.

Originally published as Young job seekers no longer forced to wait six months for dole payments