Social welfare

[Tatiana]

This breakdown allows for no alcohol or tobacco, and certainly no car.

Well I work in this system and I can say quite categorically that the long term dole bludgers all buy their smokes and their grog first. Then they turn to social agencies screaming at them for further assistance to pay the rent, give them food vouchers or pay their utilities. My first memory in this system many years back was a young man who slammed his giant sized packet of smokes on the desk and proceeded to rant at me that we didn't seem to care he had no milk for his kids........ I guess the fags were a greater priority. They also know if they say they have a job they can have their car registered for 3 months. So they get a job, get the car registered then fail to show up and get fired. Petrol is given out too, all they say is "I have a job interview" and they get fuel vouchers. I could go on, but these people don't struggle. They deal in drugs, stolen goods, break and enter or just keep hitting up charities.

Just imagine the sheer bordeom of getting up and not doing anything

Hardly. Between court appearances, committing crimes to top up their income, visiting the homes of their various kids (the males) or taking the kids to their various dads (the females) and hanging out with all their dole bludger mates getting drunk, these people live busy lives.

The thing is, from what I understand, once you have been unemployed for X amounts of months you start to get more and more unemployable.

Catch 22. The longer you are unemployed the more assistance available to get you back into work. There are buckets of money to train and assist these people. For instance Jan 1, wage assist was released. Up to $7500 for an employer in a 6 month period is the Job Seeker works for 6 months full time. Trouble is these bludgers don't want to work. However a highly motivated person who has been unemployed for 2 months may ask for assistance renewing a ticket for instance so he/she can secure a job offer. Sorry - no funds for you - come back in a few years!!

 

[RiCeY]

Its simple really. Dont give long term unemployed money, give them vouchers instead. Vouchers for shopping (not valid for smokes or alcohol), vouchers for rent, vouchers for public transport and vouchers for water, gas and electricity. If you run out of vouchers, tough ****. You have to wait till the next lot come out.

This will force people to learn to budget and they'll soon get off their asses and get a job.

 

[minux]

Haha jealous ?? Come now, let's keep it on point. NO one deserves a 10 million dollar payout !!!

Umm, when I invest my money in a company I want the best, when you have someone managing a hundred billion dollar outfit, they are worth that 10 million.

This breakdown allows for no alcohol or tobacco, and certainly no car

And yet we see the unemployed smoking and drinking quite often. Obviously they get paid too much!

It could be that you are out of said industry and not keeping up with the trends for you are out of the loop, meaning you lack technical knowledge (this is surprisingly common for some teachers who go on a decades worth of maternity leave, for example).

Teachers? Really? Here in vic they must attend continuation training that is audited, this is done so that while on family leave they do not get behind. I am 110% certain the same happens in NSW. So I doubt it is as common as you make out.

Finally, after being unemployed for so long some may develop depression, and 'give up'. At this stage a disability pension may be more appropriate.

How about a swift kick up the arse and putting them into any job available and forcing them to work to earn THEIR income? Seriously, a disability pension for self created depression...yep, that is not enabling them!

but what if the same situation happened to you?

I hate this response with a passion. That situation cannot happen to me. I have income insurance that covers me for 5 years at 75% of my current income. I pay top dollar for it. If people are too stupid to protect their income now through thrify spending than more fool them. I have ZERO sympathy for those who think nothing will go wrong in life so over spend on **** but whinge when it all goes to ****.

 

[Tatiana]

may develop depression, and 'give up'. At this stage a disability pension may be more appropriate.

I missed this line.

You don't get DSP for depression. If you did most of the country would be on it lol.

It's not easy now to get a DSP, you have to measure up to a points scale of 20. Pretty much at this point you are dribbling down your chin with no limbs. DSP recipients are now reassessed periodically, thankfully, whereas once DSP was a life payment and the ultimate goal for a dole bludger. As welfare to work moves on, DSP will be assessed constantly and those who have a temporary condition will be moved back to Newstart Payments when their condition changes for the best or disappears.

Like Minux, I doubt I will ever be on this system, my income protection is 75% of my wage until I reach 65. This kicks in after 30 days. I have a separate savings account with quite a few thousand dollars in to fall back on in the interim and top me up if needed.

 

[minux]

I have a separate savings account with quite a few thousand dollars in to fall back on in the interim and top me up if needed.

We will just use or future kids education fund that we have haha. Just means no Geelong College for them

 

[Huntington]

I will probably pay the kids school (get them out of the house faster) but they wont be getting any inheritance off me. Spending their inheritance on classic cars and a holiday home for me and wifey. :rofl2:

 

[Julie]

I will probably pay the kids school (get them out of the house faster) but they wont be getting any inheritance off me. Spending their inheritance on classic cars and a holiday home for me and wifey. :rofl2:

lol thats not so bad at least they will be left with a holiday house and classic cars, if you really don't like your kids spend it all on trips around the world

 

[Drawnnite]

lol thats not so bad at least they will be left with a holiday house and classic cars, if you really don't like your kids spend it all on trips around the world

yeah send them around the world.
just means us kids take over the house quicker and boot you out when you get back =P

but back to welfare.
there are those then genuinely need it and or other help.
while there are others who dont and these people need to be targetted.

 

[c2105026]

Ok then lets suppose the long term employed are engaged in a working for the dole type set up - what would they be paid, considering they are doing the work of other minimum wage people eg. cleaning etc.? How many hours should they work (I would suggest maybe 20-25hrs a week tops to give them time to find work whilst businesses were open).

I do have a very close friend who is the mother of a welfare-dependent family; however she has decided to improve her family's fortunes and taken up a teaching career (I met her through my course). Her partner is an agoraphobic schizophrenic (smoking pot apparently does wonders for this condition, any more than over the counter drugs:hmmm; son has been in front of court already by age of 16, daughter is fine, apparently almost a G&T candidate (runner up for dux in yr 6). She works very, very hard at uni (I have even lent her money to re-sit a couple of exams she failed), whilst trying to keep the family together. He gets a disability pension, she a carers pension. I'd say if there were more members of the centrelink queue like her the welfare bill would slowly fade away. But there are not; is an unfortunate part of the human condition.

If we were to cut off payments, what happens? I am assuming that without food charities would be inundated, most clients being turned away would ultimately starve? Without homes, wouldn't the former dole bludger then have to live out in the elements, and be a homeless person? I personally don't think this is a very humane way to deal with the issue, no matter how economically rational it is.

 

[NIXONLS1]

Needs to be compulsory drug testing each week before dole payments are made.

And as for the baby bonus, if Sally is on her 6th kid and only 17, she should not get any payments at all.