In its first policy response to mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s indigenous employment report.......... NEARLY 30,000 people across remote Australia, most of them indigenous, will have to work five days a week, 12 months a year, to receive the dole, under a tough new regime that the Abbott government will roll out. The remote scheme, which will require recipients of the Newstart Allowance to undertake 25 hours of work-for-the-dole activities each week, is more extreme than the regime to be rolled out in cities and regional areas, which will only apply for six months a year. A new fund will be established to support the creation of businesses in languishing communities in remote areas, such as butchers and hairdressers, to support the scheme. In its first policy response to mining magnate Andrew Forrest’s indigenous employment report, the Abbott government will embark on reform of employment services in remote Australia to put an end to “sit-down welfare”. The radical new regime will be rolled out progressively region by region, starting next July. An additional $95 million will be put into work for the dole, on top of the existing $1.5 billion to create new activities. In a bid to deal with truancy in many remote communities, parents of school-age children will be able, as part of work-for-the-dole activities, to take their children to school and pick them up at the end of the day. Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion said cabinet had signed off on the radical new policy, parts of which have previously been revealed in The Australian. He said it was justifiable to subject remote residents to the tougher rules because there were limited labour markets in remote communities, unlike in cities and bigger regions. “Yes the rules are different, and that is deliberate, because there are a lot less available jobs in remote communities,” Senator Scullion said. Under the new rules, all unemployed people aged 18-49 will be required to be involved in work-for-the-dole activities for up to 25 hours per week, based on their individual assessed capacity. The changes will be fought by some indigenous leaders who will see them as unfair and draconian. Because the work-for-the-dole projects will be as close to real work as possible, some will argue that this means Aborigines will be doing real jobs for welfare wages. The Abbott government will provide $25m each year to support butchers, hairdressers and others to establish businesses. These intermediate labour markets will provide real work experience and, ultimately, real jobs in remote communities. The small-business fund will provide grants to set up a business, with an expectation that over time the business will become self-sustaining, and provide full jobs. The parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister on indigenous affairs, Alan Tudge, said this was the first instalment of reforms from the Forrest report and “one of the most important”. Senator Scullion said that in some communities the scheme could include support for the creation of businesses that could secure contracts for housing maintenance in communities, “to end the farcical situation of this work being awarded to non-indigenous contractors thousands of kilometres away”. Work for the dole is not currently an element of the Remote Jobs and Communities Program, which operates in 60 communities. Jobseekers can be engaged in structured activities that are similar in nature to work for the dole for the amount of time needed to meet their mutual-obligation requirements. The scheme is loose and does not force most people into activities every day. Senator Scullion said the RJCP, introduced by the Gillard government last year, had failed local communities because it wasn’t geared to the unique social and labour-market conditions of remote Australia. He said the Forrest review had highlighted that “idleness is again entrenched in many remote communities, significantly contributing to the erosion of social norms”. “Our approach will be very different,” the minister said. “The key aim is providing real pathways to employment.”
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 08:43:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015