PhilipS,

Good find. I'm going to email this information to the two usesless drones, Turnbull and Shorten.

Actually I think you should have to work for the dole.
Getting money for nothing is wrong.
But the way it is handled at the moment is all about making people miserable in the hope that they will just go away.
The whole system of unemployed torturing is designed not to get you a job but to give you a mental illness.
The rightards of the liars party see the unemployed as just another vilification target that takes the focus off them and their bloodsucking, parasitic greed and theft.

We should get rid of the job network leeches completely.
Why is it the governments responsibility to help you find work?
That is what Seek.com and places like that are for.
Most jobs are gotten through word of mouth or internally anyway.
The job network is useless and more than doubles the cost of unemployment to the community.

There should be only two requirements for receiving "the dole".
You do not have a job.
You do some form of work up to the amount you receive for the dole.

i.e. if you volunteer as a legal aid solicitor you would get paid your normal rate from centrelink and only need to do say 5 or 6 hours per fortnight. Whereas if you just swept the streets or picked up rubbish then you would get paid min wage and have to do 15 or 20 hours per fortnight.
None of this $4 an hour "internship" garbage.

You could volunteer with the salvos or the local community garden. Maybe even allow volunteering with surf life saving clubs(do patrols) or the St John Ambulance or bushfire brigades. Sporting clubs, community groups, landcare and environment groups, even aged and disability care. They are always crying out for more people to help. You could start your own project and get it approved as your WFD activity. Start a community garden, adopt a kilometre or two of bike path, keep a beach clean. Anything that gives back a bit for what you are receiving by being on the dole.

Dear Jay,

<<I think you meant "conditional.">>

I meant, with the one and only condition - that one truly doesn't have any other income.
But if you ask me to be more precise, then I'd add two more conditions: that one must have a human body and that one is a permanent resident (or citizen) of Australia.

Having a certain percentage of people on the dole is good, because it prevents the creation of useless, abusive, harmful and unethical jobs and also allows people to contribute to society in many informal, non-economic-based ways. It also prevents crime by hungry people, so we can feel safer.

This minimal sum of money should not be viewed as a gift, but as rightful compensation: modern society has forced people to depend on money, so there is nothing wrong about those who most benefit and enjoy the use of money compensating those who don't.

The Romans had a work for the dole system. They called it slavery. The British also had their version of work for the dole, they called it convicts. The Germans had their work for the dole system, but you don't want to hear about that one.
Its not that simple to organize this new found Labor force, given there is a certain percent that are unemployable for one reason or another in the first place, although the Romans did have a solution to that one, they employed them 'feeding the lions', literally, so did the Germans, but we don't talk about that one.
The next problem is if you push the unemployed into useful employment, like road repairers, then on the assumption road repairing is vital, you displace the existing road repairers who in turn become unemployed, and the cycle repeats itself. Then there is the organisational, managerial and resource aspect to deal with as well, it all costs. Before you know it, you have 3 million unemployed, employed and a overseeing bureaucracy of another half a million, and a budget of $10 billion, which you can't pay, as none are paying tax. The rest of the populace are just getting all of these free services. complements of the government. Then someone will suggest we privatize unemployment, the Romans did, they sold the slaves on the open market, the Germans did to, but we wont talk about that.

cont.

cont.

The reality of "work for the dole" is, some populists politicians see an advantage of appearing to be hard on the unemployed, and work for the dole falls into that category, it appeals to a certain section of the community. The politician who uses the tough talking rhetoric to win votes, is not much interested in the practicality of the system, or the outcomes. The politician is not going to commit billions to the scheme, as might be required, but rather sees it as window dressing to win votes. If the unemployed sit around doing nothing on badly organised and inefficient useless projects, that's fine, as they are not creating any new unemployed and its not costing that much, and more importantly the constituency has been satisfied.
The Roman authorities had to pay a price for having lots of unemployed citizens, slaves doing the work, they had to provide bread and beer and free entertainment in the Colosseum, another useful line of employment for slaves, working as gladiators!

Paul1405: the Romans did have a solution to that one, they employed them 'feeding the lions', literally,

Now there's an idea for the purposely unemployed. Good one.

Paul 1405: appearing to be hard on the unemployed, and work for the dole falls into that category,

It depends on weather you are a worker or one of the purposely unemployed. By you attitude I see where you are coming from.

Paul1405: If the unemployed sit around doing nothing on badly organised and inefficient useless projects.

It depends on what "you" class as badly organised and inefficient useless projects.

Paul1405: doing the work, they had to provide bread and beer and free entertainment in the Colosseum.

So the Romans didn't actually provide money. They provided food & entertainment for free. Now I happen to think the Romans had it right. No money to spend on Drugs, Alcohol, Tobacco & Souping up the road car.

I read a report once by some Professor that the right amount of unemployed is 7% of the Workforce. Apparently this allows for people to improve their working conditions & find a better job etc.