Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

No, it is not rubbish. They should issue an apology for trying to mislead Australians. Dare I say it, that is typical of that organisation. Under the innovative Youth Jobs PaTH plan, the payment of $200 per fortnight is on top of the existing income support that the job seeker already receives. It is an opportunity for individuals, as I have said before, with income support to gain valuable work experience in a real workplace on a voluntary basis but with all the conditions that a usual employee would benefit from, would be subjected to and would have the experience of. This should not be confused with paid work as individuals will continue to stay on income support whilst undertaking the internship.

This is a good employment package. It is good for youth. It is good for young Australians. It makes them job ready. Many of them have not experienced this sort of undertaking before, this sort of opportunity, and I can assure the member for Mayo that particularly for regional areas, particularly for young people in country regions, this is a good deal for them. It makes them job ready. Employers and representative organisations such as the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry consistently state that young people need to improve their employability skills and have recent work experience. This PaTH program enables just that. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that more than 100,000 unemployed young people aged 15 to 24 have never worked before. It is a staggering statistic. Job seekers who undertake work experience are more likely to find sustainable ongoing employment. The department's administrative data for December 2014 showed that of the job seekers who undertook unpaid work experience, almost half were in employment three months later compared to 26 per cent for other activities.

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