A union representing unemployed people has warned the federal government’s dramatic expansion of the work-for-the-dole program will send more jobseekers into unsafe work environments but fail to help them into secure and permanent employment.

The Coalition is making it significantly harder for welfare recipients on activity-tested payments, such as Newstart, to meet their mutual obligation requirements – the steps recipients must take to receive their benefits.

The changes, due to come into effect in September, will force welfare recipients aged 30 to 49 to complete 50 hours of work-related activities per fortnight, up from 30 currently.

The government is also introducing an activity test for jobseekers over 60. They will now be required to complete 10 hours of work-related activity a fortnight.

Volunteering can be used to satisfy the test for those over 60 but the government is proposing to limit the ability of those aged 50 to 59 to rely on volunteering.



The Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union said the changes represented the biggest expansion of the work-for-the-dole program since the Abbott government’s 2014 budget.

The AUWU president, Owen Bennett, said the work-for-the-dole program had proved ineffective at getting people into proper work.

His claim is backed up by a University of Melbourne study that found work-for-the-dole participants were no more likely to move off welfare payments in a 12-month period than a comparable group of social security recipients who were not in the program.

Bennett said the program also sent jobseekers into dangerous environments – a claim that is strongly denied by the government. He cited a 2016 Ernst and Young report, which showed 64% of 200 audited worksites were not fully compliant in risk assessments.

“It’s the biggest expansion [of the work-for-the-dole program] since [Tony] Abbott really ramped it up in 2015,” Bennett said. “I think people over the age of 30 are going to see their hours increase by a minimum of 50%. This is all for an activity that the government’s own reports recognise is dangerous, significantly dangerous, and it doesn’t help people into work.

“So it’s just beyond belief that the government is planning to expand it so significantly.”



But a spokesman for the Department of Jobs and Small Business rejected the AUWU’s claims, saying the injury rate for the work-for-the-dole program since 2015 was far below the general rate.

He said the injury rate in the work-for-the-dole program was less than 1%. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the rate of injury and illness in the general community was 4.3% in 2013-14.

The department said the union’s interpretation of the Ernst and Young report was “completely incorrect”.

“In fact, overall, the report found work-for-the-dole activities to be safe,” the spokesman said. “As with any workplace, improvements can be made and work health and safety continues to be a priority for the program.”

The safety of work-for-the-dole worksites has been under scrutiny since the death of teenager Josh Park-Fing in April 2016.



Park-Fing was working for the dole when he fell from a flatbed trailer as it was towed by a tractor during a rubbish-collecting assignment at the Toowoomba showgrounds.

He suffered critical head injuries and died on the way to the hospital. The government is yet to release a report into his death.

“It’s a matter of time until we see another death on work-for-the-dole,” Bennett said. “The government hasn’t learned the lessons of Josh’s death, they haven’t released the report, they haven’t shown any inclination to address the structural flaws with the program.”