Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Hockey backdown on jobseekers waiting period

The federal government has backed down on its plan to force young jobseekers to wait six months before accessing unemployment payments, budget papers will reveal.

Instead, jobseekers under the age of 25 will have to wait four weeks before they receive Newstart or Youth Allowance, an extension of the current one-week waiting period.

The six-month waiting period for under-30s was one of the most punitive and regressive savings measures listed in last year’s budget. 

But the policy stalled in the Senate after failing to secure the support of Labor, the Greens and the majority of crossbenchers.

The treasurer, Joe Hockey, indicated that the policy would be scrapped when asked about it early on Tuesday morning.

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