FED: Govt "trying to water down" Work for Dole
08 Dec 2008 4:17 AM
The federal government has been accused of trying to water down Work for the Dole by cutting funding for the program.
News Ltd says that from July next year .. job placement groups could be paid less than half current rates .. to place the unemployed in a Work for the Dole position.
It says proposed Employment Services Contracts for 2009-12 effectively reduce the payment from two-thousand-810 dollars a person .. to just over 12-hundred .. making it financially unviable for many agencies to set up supervised projects for the jobless .. such as refurbishment of community facilities.
Opposition employment participation spokesman ANDREW SOUTHCOTT says employment services will shun Work for the Dole programs because of the funding cut.
The government has rejected suggestions it'll abolish Work for the Dole .. designed by the Howard government to ensure welfare recipients do something in return for their benefits.
AAP RTV ao/psm/
