The Coalition launched its internship program this week, despite widespread criticism and lack of Senate support from the ALP and Greens.

The program, which was announced in the government's 2016 budget, has the neat and tidy acronym, PaTH – Prepare, Trial and Hire. As the name suggests, the government's intention was to establish a program for young and unemployed Australians to gain valuable work experience in an internship, preparing them for full-time employment.

Bernadette Anvia has worked more than 500 hours unpaid as an intern.

For their trouble of undertaking 300 hours of unpaid work (25 hours a week for 12 weeks), the intern would receive an extra $200 per fortnight on top of their unemployment allowance to cover expenses like travel. That's $4 per hour for the intern – $13.70 less than the national minimum wage.

The PaTH program also includes incentives for businesses, with the 12-week internship spruiked as a trial period for possible future employees. The government would then reward the business with up to $10,000 for every intern hired.