A Senate inquiry into the Community Development Program has heard that the Government’s work for the dole scheme is inflexible and penalises disadvantaged First Nations people.

The scheme requires welfare recipients in remote areas to participate in 25 hours of work per week in order to qualify for payments and are penalised if they fail to attend.

The Government was slammed in March this year when it was revealed that more than 200,000 breaches were issued in since the program began in July 2015.

According to an ABC report, 55,000 of those were in just three months.

Ngurratjuta Aborigional Corporation is a CDP Provider and Cameron Miller says the reality of remote living doesn’t work with the scheme.

 

 

(IMAGE:Flickr_Martin Howard)