Commission of Audit: jobless young people urged to move or lose benefits

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/01/jobless-young-people-urged-move-or-lose-benefits

Version 0 of 1.

Young people without a job for over a year should move to areas of high employment or lose all access to unemployment benefits, according to recommendations in the Commission of Audit report.

The hardline recommendation states it is “reasonable to expect young long-term unemployed people to improve their job prospects by requiring those aged 22 to 30 to relocate to a high employment area”.

It suggests some form of financial assistance should be offered to those who relocate.

It recommends that exemptions to the policy would apply to young people with dependent children, but notes that over half of Newstart recipients are single with no dependents.

The unemployment rate in Australia of those aged 15 to 24 is currently 12.5%, according to recent research. This is double the national rate across all age groups.