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Wednesday, 10th December 2003

Work For The Dole Keeps Jobseekers In Tasmania Unemployed For Longer


In Tasmania only 1 in 13 (8%) jobseekers who participated in Work for the Dole were in full employment 3 months after completing the program. A further 11% secured part-time employment.


A massive 44.5% of jobseekers remained unemployed after participating in Work for the Dole, and a further 5.7% of jobseekers became so disillusioned by their experiences in the program they simply gave up looking for a job and left the labour market. Labor obtained this information through the Estimates process.


These results are for a program the Howard Government considers one of its “major success stories”.


The current Work for the Dole program is failing to equip jobseekers with the skills that would improve their chances of securing a job.


What’s more, a suppressed Government report concluded that Work for the Dole keeps jobseekers on unemployment benefits longer. The report, obtained by The Australian newspaper under Freedom of Information, concluded:


“…there appear to be quite large significant adverse effects of participation in [Work for the Dole].”


The research found that Work for the Dole stigmatised jobseekers, reduced the time they had to find a real job and provides little in the way of genuine assistance, namely training.


This research paints a bleak picture for jobseekers. It is also bad news for taxpayers.


By keeping people on unemployment benefits longer and not equipping them with the skills that will ensure they can move permanently from welfare into work, Work for the Dole is actually costing taxpayers more. Since 1997 almost $500 million has been spent on this program – a further $178 million will be spent in 2003/04.


Taxpayers are not getting value for money from the Howard Government’s Work for the Dole program.


Labor created and believes in mutual obligation. However for it to be effective, government must fulfil its obligations to the unemployed.


• In the year to March 2003, 2,011 jobseekers in Tasmania participated in Work for the Dole.


 


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Electorate Office

334a Marrickville Rd
Marrickville NSW 2204

Phone: 02 9564 3588

Parliament House Office

Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Phone: 02 6277 7700

Phone: (02) 9564 3588
Fax: (02) 9564 1734
Email: A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which our offices stand and we pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge the sorrow of the Stolen Generations and the impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We also recognise the resilience, strength and pride of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

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