Australians on JobSeeker would still be able to receive the unemployment benefit, while also earning money harvesting crops and working on farms, under a bold recommendation by parliamentary inquiry dominated by Government MPs.
Australians on JobSeeker would still be able to receive the unemployment benefit, while also earning money harvesting crops and working on farms, under a bold recommendation by a Government-dominated parliamentary inquiry.
Currently, people receiving the unemployment benefit are docked portions of their payment on a sliding scale if they earn over a certain amount.In June, the Government increased the unemployment benefit to $1,100 per fortnight, adding the coronavirus supplement to the payment and renaming it from Newstart to JobSeeker.
The report also noted evidence from farm groups that the former Seasonal Worker Incentives Trial, which had attempted to encourage unemployed people on benefits to work on farms, had largely failed,National Farmers' Federation spokesman Ben Rogers told the inquiry the program allowed people who were on welfare benefits to earn up to $5,000 while working on a farm without affecting those payments, and was "a financial inducement to work on farms".
As part of the recommendation, the committee suggested the Government discount HECS and HELP fees, but it did not specify to what extent, or what specific jobs would be considered relevant. "Also there's university students who'll finish in a couple of months, the opportunity for then them to go and work in agriculture and make a quid over the summer holidays and then go back with some dollars in their pocket and have a better time when they go back to uni."
This follows a proposal by industry group the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance that a $1,200 relocation support payment for workers, and a $1,200 induction support payment for businesses, be paid retrospectively after three months of work is completed.
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