Catholic Social Services Australia has called on the Federal Government to extend employment opportunities for people to participate in the labour market.
The Catholic Weekly reports that "we need to see Government creating supported employment schemes," according to CSSA executive director Frank Quinlan.
From July 1, hundreds of thousands of people receiving unemployment benefits have had to do more to find work, meet Centrelink staff regularly to ensure they are looking for work and report any earnings under the changes.
Those who fail to turn up for their fortnightly meeting will have their welfare payments suspended, said the report.
The new rules apply to anyone under 25, the long-term and recently unemployed, and those who have poor compliance histories or are deemed vulnerable by the agency.
"The real question for us is what additional assistance job seekers are going to get when they turn up to their Centrelink office," Mr Quinlan said.
"We need to start to look at creating intermediate opportunities, intermediate job markets to support some people who might not immediately be job ready. It would entail job creation schemes where people can actually receive supported assistance to hold down jobs in the community," he is cited as saying.
FULL STORY
Give jobless more help in finding work, Govt urged (The Catholic Weekly)
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