Under new work for the dole requirements tabled by the Abbott federal government, employers could easily exploit the unemployed as free labour and possibly displace paid employees from the workforce.
From July 2015, unemployed people under the age of 30 will be required to do 25 hours of unpaid labour a week for six months. Those between the ages of 30 and 49 will be required to do 15 hours a week.
Opponents to the scheme say government safeguards may not be enough to protect people from exploitation nor from stopping employers from taking away full time jobs and filling them with free labour from those required to work for the dole.
Furthermore, anyone who is receiving a benefit will be required to apply for 40 jobs a month, double the current requirement. The rule has been opposed by the business community in Australia, who expect to be inundated with hundreds of meaningless job applications.
Moreover, evidence suggests that work for the dole is the least successful way to get people into employment. By March this year, less than 20 per cent of people who had done voluntary work for the dole under the previous scheme had found a job three months later. Of those that had, two thirds were in part-time work.
Please sign the petition to demand the Australian government does not enable employers to exploit the unemployed or displace paid employees from the workforce.
