Indigenous participants in work-for-dole programme 27 times more likely to be penalised | GulfNews.com

19.7.17

Indigenous participants in work-for-dole programme 27 times more likely to be penalised | GulfNews.com: The ANU researcher, Lisa Fowkes, found that during the same period, the 760,000 participants in the Jobactive programme, which has a similar requirement for work-for-the-dole hours but does not operate in remote communities, received 237,333 penalties.

An additional analysis by Guardian Australia found that the CDP programme received 854 penalties per 100 participants, while Jobactive received 31 penalties per 100 participants, making CDP participants 27.5 times more likely to be fined.

Fowkes, who has analysed each quarterly release of data on the programme for the Australian National University’s Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, said that the number of fines against CDP participants in March 2017 was the highest since the programme begun, belying the federal government’s claims that it had achieved “transformative change”.