http://community.boredofstudies.org...itics/208760/crackdown-welfare-under-20s.htmlCrackdown on welfare for under 20s
PEOPLE aged under 20 who are not working, studying or training will lose the Youth Allowance under a goverment push to set the nation up for a strong recovery from the ongoing recession.
And the tighter eligibility standards on the Youth Allowance will also apply to Family Tax Benefit Part A, meaning the parents of young people who are not at school or in training will no longer be eligible for the benefit.
Kevin Rudd and state premiers meeting at the Council of Australian Governments today agreed to use the economic downturn to lift the nation's emphasis on training, rather than allowing young people to languish on dole queues.
And the Prime Minister also offered the states access to a $100 million incentive fund if they lift Year 12 completion rates.
Arguing that high school retention rates deliver stronger economic productivity, COAG agreed to aim to lift the retention rate from the current 74 per cent to 90 per cent by 2015 _ bringing the target forward five years from previous plans.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr Rudd said he was not prepared to allow the recession to consign a generation of young people to the ranks of the long-term unemployed.
“We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past where young poeple who lose their jobs today become the long-term unemployed of the future,” the Prime Minister said.
“Let's make a difference this time.”
The premiers also agreed that all unemployed people aged under 25 would be entitled to a training position to lift their skills to make them more employable.
“This is for us a universal entitlement,” Mr Rudd said.
Crackdown on welfare for under 20s | The Australian
Seems fair, although I think there are fatter cows they could have gone after before youth welfare.
I'm curious about this bit towards the end
The premiers also agreed that all unemployed people aged under 25 would be entitled to a training position to lift their skills to make them more employable.
The training programs undertaken presently as part of newstart are by all accounts, bullshit, complete waste of time. I wonder if 'entitled' will be a euphemism for mandated.
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