Tapping into a deep vein of hostility towards welfare recipients in the community, he also developed his public profile and honed his predilection for short, rhyming slogans – earn or learn, job snobs. The now Prime Ministers signature work-for-the-dole policy, which had been downgraded by Labor, is back, quadrupled in size and, for the first time, targeting people up to the age of 50. The tabloid headlines about dole bludgers have returned. Tabloid talkback is alight with tales of a lost generation of couch-ridden and coddled youth, lazy and content to play video games rather than look for work. From next July, unemployed people under the age of 30 will be required to do 25 hours of unpaid labour a week for six months. Those between 30 and 49 will do 15 hours. The jobless will also be asked to apply for 40 jobs a month, double the current requirement. Repeated failure to comply with the job search standards or turn up to a work-for-the-dole placement could result in the suspension of welfare payments for up to eight weeks. When it is fully operational, 150,000 job seekers each year will undertake what are typically low-supervision, menial tasks such as cleaning and labouring, but which can include more bizarre activities. In Adelaide, a group of work-for-the-dolers are making World War 1 dioramas for RSL clubs. Another program involves restoring a military aircraft. The expanded work-for-the-dole scheme will cost about $1 billion extra over three years. The new demands are substantial for jobseekers and the focus of the reforms is on young people. Many employers are telling me that young job seekers are presenting at the gates of their business without the basic skills to get by in the workforce, Assistant Minister for Employment Luke Hartsuyker says.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 00:45:01 +0000
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