Indigenous work for the dole scheme 'failing abysmally', worsening poverty, Greens say

Extract from ABC News

By political reporter Dan Conifer

Posted about 2 hours ago

Photo: Senator Siewert said the scheme is failing participants. (AAP: Lukas Coch)

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The Turnbull Government's Indigenous work for the dole program needs immediate repairs to ensure children are "getting food on the table", the Greens say.

Key points:

• Greens claim scheme is worsening poverty and hunger in Aboriginal communities
• Participants receive more penalties than every other Australian jobseeker combined
• Greens senator renewed calls to scrap penalty that freezes welfare for eight weeks

In just over two years more than 400,000 fines have been imposed on the scheme's relatively small group of participants for missing activities.
Participants are being slapped with more penalties than every other Australian jobseeker combined, prompting claims it is worsening poverty and hunger in Aboriginal communities.
The Government has conceded the Community Development Programme (CDP) needs a "complete rejigging".
But it has indicated an overhaul will not be fully implemented until July 2019.
Greens senator Rachel Siewert said the scheme's harshest punishment — freezing welfare payments for up to eight weeks — should be abandoned now.

"Whilst this program is allowed to continue, there are kids not getting food on the table and communities are being pushed into further poverty and disadvantage," Senator Siewert said.

"The Minister must move immediately to relieve participants from the impacts of the current program which is failing abysmally."
"They need relief now."

Indigenous communities in debt

Thousands of work-for-dole participants are being forced to call Centrelink and face half-a-day telephone wait times to try and avoid crippling financial debt.

A Labor-Greens dominated Senate committee last year also recommended the immediate abolition of eight-week penalties.
Speaking recently in Alice Springs, Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion did not rule out such a move.
"We're having a careful look at the Senate report," he said.
"We believe a complete rejigging of the scheme is needed.
"We attempted to [make changes] before the last election, we spent over a year working very closely with the Opposition, but were disappointed."
"At the last moment before the election they said, 'oh, look, we can't do it anymore'."

Align scheme with other programs: Siewert

More than 50,000 eight-week penalties have been imposed on about 15,000 participants since mid-2015, although most of these have been fully-waived.
Senator Siewert said the program's requirements should also be aligned with other work for the dole programs.
Remote work for the dole participants work up to three-times longer than city-based jobseekers to receive Centrelink payments.
The CDP covers three-quarters of Australia's landmass, and the overwhelming majority of its 33,000 participants are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.

There are hundreds of thousands of people in the mainstream Jobactive system.