Government eyes welfare changes to end dole trap

Australians who have been on welfare for long periods could soon see an overhaul of their payments under changes flagged by the federal government.

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Source: AAP

Young parents, carers and students at risk of being stuck on welfare for the rest of their lives will have to abide by new rules and programs to break their dependency on benefits.

The federal government will pump millions of dollars into a new fund which will target thousands singled out in a new report on preventing welfare reliance.

They're also likely to be slapped with new rules to ensure they're working for their payments.

The long-awaited report on an "investment approach" to welfare will be released on Tuesday by the Social Services Minister Christian Porter.

It will show how 4370 young parents will remain on welfare for long periods because they will have more kids, costing the taxpayer $2.4 billion over their lifetimes.

Most of those young mothers had a parent who also received benefits at some stage in their life.

On students, the report shows that almost 30 per cent of those who have received study payments will draw on the system at some stage over the next 60 years.

About 594 students who have moved onto payments such as unemployment benefits straight out of study will continue to seek welfare each year for the rest of their lives.

For young carers, almost half of the 11,000 on benefits are predicted to remain so over the next 70 years, costing $5.2 billion.

Mr Porter is calling for a revolution in the way social security is paid, worried that passively giving people money is turning some into dependents.

"The human cost of lost opportunities, of lost potential, is a terrible result of the system that we have in place at the moment," he told ABC radio on Tuesday.

A $96 million pool of funding will be available to community groups and NGOs who can help those people into jobs.

But Mr Porter also admits there could be stronger punitive measures to ensure they're complying.

"We're going to have to look at some of the relationships and rules and systems we have in place."

Labor is suspicious the data will be just used for further welfare cuts, pointing to controversial policies such as the one-month wait for the dole for youth.

"The government is talking this up but their actions fall a long way short," opposition social services spokeswoman Jenny Macklin told ABC radio.

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3 min read
Published 20 September 2016 11:36am
By SBS Punjabi
Source: AAP, SBS

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