http://www.smh.com.au/news/0006/28/update/news1.html Crackdown on jobless revealed Centrelink was advising unemployed people in Sydney they were expected to find a job during the Olympics, or else, it was revealed today. Leaked documents showed the government services agency was worried it would be blamed if the Sydney Games' jobs boom passed with too many people are still out of work. ABC radio said the documents stated there was a jobs bonanza under way due to the Olympics, one which was likely to continue for some time. The briefing notes for Centrelink staff contained a central message and a set of administrative practices. It told staff: "Tell marginalised job seekers: if you can't get a job in 2000 in Sydney, you'll never be able to get one. You are not serious about getting a job," the station reported. It also listed directives to be conveyed to job seekers: � people were expected to travel to find work and expected to get it; � they were to be told they would be breached (penalised) if they did not meet their obligations such as not turning up for an interview or not maintaining a dole diary; � excuses would not be accepted; � agency staff should act to penalise if the evidence indicated a breach; � there were restrictions on the circumstances under which breaches could be overturned; � these restrictions were in line with pre-existing requirement that Centrelink revokes no more than 15 per cent of penalties applied to people on the work-for-the-dole scheme. Australian Council of Social Services president Michael Raper said the quota showed that many vulnerable people were to be penalised irrespective of whether they had a reasonable excuse. "Centrelink is not asking people for an explanation and those that do manage to speak up are being ignored," he said. - AAP -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
