Budget 2014: Andrew Forrest to recommend teens not in work or school should lose welfare

Updated

The Federal Government is being urged to strip welfare from teenagers if they are not in school, work or training in next week's budget, the ABC can reveal.

The idea will come from billionaire miner Andrew Forrest, who is finalising a government-commissioned review of Indigenous training and employment.

He will recommend people under 19 - whether they are Indigenous or not - lose their welfare benefits if they are not in school or work.

The Prime Minister's Parliamentary Secretary for Indigenous Affairs, Alan Tudge, says the proposal will be considered.

"There will always be an exemption for particular hardship, but the overall rule needs to be a hard one because we do no-one a service by making welfare an attraction for a person to leave school and go onto the dole," Mr Tudge said.

The budget will include tough earn or learn measures.

The ABC has confirmed school leavers will be forced to wait six months before they can apply for welfare.

Something else the Government is keen to see is more Aboriginal people chasing work further afield.

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Budget could impose earn or learn requirement on youth welfare (ABC News)

"It's up to an individual to decide whether or not they want to take those opportunities, but we certainly want to encourage them and create the incentives," Mr Tudge said.

But some, like Wes Morris from the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre in Western Australia, have reservations.

"What we've seen time and time again is that not only is it bad for the individual, but it's also a very bad employment outcome," Mr Morris said.

"People have connection to family, people have connection to their cultural roots, to their identity and to their places."

However, Dubbo Indigenous elder 'Riverbank' Frank Doolan believes having a job is more important.

"You can have all the culture under the sun ... and you know you can sort of end up treading water or staying in the one spot," Mr Doolan said.

"I believe that what we need to do is give our young people every opportunity to take a rightful place in this society."

Topics: budget, government-and-politics, welfare, community-and-society, indigenous-policy, work, youth, australia, wa, nt, vic, tas, sa, qld, nsw, act

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