Acting Greens leader Adam Bandt has challenged Minister Jenny Macklin to spend a week living on the dole with him.

YOUNG Aussies on the dole who live in high unemployment areas including outer western Sydney, Byron Bay, Geelong and Logan, are on notice.

They are the first targets of Tony Abbott’s revamped work for the dole scheme.

The federal government will today unveil the initial 18 locations across the country where people under 30 will be forced to start working for the dole.

A third of the unemployment hot spots targeted in the crackdown are in New South Wales, another five areas are in Queensland, four in Victoria, and one each in South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia.

“All Australians who are capable of working should be working — ideally for a wage but, if not, for the dole,” the Assistant Minister for Employment Luke Hartsuyker said.

The locations have been selected because they are areas of high unemployment, have a high number of job seekers, and Mr Hartsuyker said they could “significantly benefit” from this tough approach to getting people off welfare and back into the workforce.

The communities under fire have unemployment rates ranging from 9.2 per cent on Queensland’s Fraser Coast, to 8.6 per cent in Sydney’s western suburbs of Fairfield and Liverpool, and 6.7 per cent in northern Adelaide.

“Work for the dole is an important part of the Government’s plan to help young job seekers gain the skills and experience they need to move from welfare to work and make a positive contribution to their local community,” Mr Hartsuyker said.

From July 1, jobseekers aged 18 to 30, who living in these areas, and who have been receiving Youth Allowance or Newstart for 12 months of more, will be required undergo about 15 hours a week of compulsory work for the dole, for a period of six months.

Currently work for the dole is just one option job seekers may engage in to meet their mutual obligation criteria.

Their placements will be found with local councils, federal and state government agencies and in not-for-profit and religious organisations.

To ensure they comply with their work for the dole requirements, welfare recipients will be at risk of losing one tenth of their fortnightly income support payments for every day they fail to show up.

And the initiative is just one part of the Abbott government’s crackdown on unemployed Australians under age 30.

In tough measures introduced in this month’s budget people under 25 will no longer be eligible for Newstart and will instead be moved to the less generous Youth Allowance payment, and under 30s will have to “earn or learn” or risk having their welfare payments cut off for six months.

The federal government will today begin tendering for new work for the dole co-ordinators, who will help place young jobseekers in work for the dole positions.

The Work for The Dole hit list:

1. Fairfield, Liverpool (NSW)

2. Nepean, Outer Western Sydney (including Blue Mountains NSW)

3. Central Coast (NSW)

4. Shoalhaven (NSW)

5. Richmond, Tweed, Clarence Valley (including Ballina and Byron Bay NSW)

6. Coffs Harbour, Macleay, Hastings (NSW)

7. Bundaberg (Qld)

8. Fraser Coast (Qld)

9. Outer North Brisbane (Qld)

10. Cairns (Qld)

11. Logan (Qld)

12. Westgate (north west Melbourne Vic)

13. Goulburn Valley (Vic)

14. Peninsula (south eastern Melbourne Vic)

15. Geelong (Vic)

16. Central and West Metro (south West Perth WA)

17. Northern Adelaide, Gawler (SA)

18. West and North West, Launceston (Tas)