2016-11-28
The Australian Greens have submitted a dissenting report recommending that the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Youth Jobs Path: Prepare, Trial, Hire) bill proposed by the Government not be passed in its current form.
“The Greens cannot support the youth jobs PaTH bill in its current form because of a wide range of concerns that include intern exploitation, intern churn, payments below minimum wage, and limited protections for participants”, Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said today.
“The youth jobs PaTH bill fails to acknowledge that the jobs simply aren’t there for young people and that more effort is needed to generate jobs, instead the program focuses disproportionately on getting young people into internships that could be precarious and don’t expand the job market.
“We’ve seen in the UK and Ireland similar plans resulted in high exploitation, with employers churning interns in and out whilst pushing existing workers out the door.
“There is simply not enough detail on how the Government will tackle these inevitable loopholes, nor have they adequately explained how interns will be protected in health and safety, as well as obviously being paid well below minimum wage.
“The bill seems to replicate unsuccessful schemes whilst failing to actually address the underlying problem of lack of available jobs.
“This is of concern to the Australian Greens, we do not want to push young people into internships that may do more harm than good. We recommend the bill not be passed in its current form”.
Media ReleaseFamily, Ageing, Community and Disability Services