The Coalition's $1 billion work-for-the-dole scheme has improved the probability that an unemployed person will find a job by just 2 percentage points, a government-commissioned review has found.

A 90-page academic evaluation of the program concluded that the chance of getting a job had risen – but off a low base.

Minister for Women and Employment Michaelia Cash was a big winner in Malcolm Turnbull's new-look cabinet. Credit:Janie Barrett

"It is estimated that in the short-term [work for the dole] resulted in an additional 2 percentage point increase in the probability of job seekers having a job placement controlling for other characteristics (from a low baseline of 14 per cent)," researchers from the Australian National University's Social Research Centre concluded.

"Furthermore, moving off income support increased by an additional 2 percentage points, compared to what would occur in the absence of [work for the dole] (from a baseline of 13 per cent)."