Australia’s dole-bludger suburbs named and shamed

Australia’s worst suburbs for dole bludging have been named and shamed by the Human Services Department as part of a plan to overhaul the welfare system.

The 10 suburbs named on the list have the highest rate of work-for-the-Dole recipients who continuously skip job interviews and Centrelink appointments.

While Victoria claimed the majority of suburbs on the list, Queensland’s Caboolture came in at number one, followed by Blacktown in Sydney’s west.

According to the report, which was handed to News Corp, 50,000 Australians are who are capable of working did not attend job interviews in the past year, but are still receiving their welfare payments.

Human Services Minister Alan Tudge told Today, the government was “cracking down” on recipients who continuously rort the system.

“There are hotspots around Australia where some people are consistently failing to turn up to job interviews,” he said.

“They have been getting away with that and we are determined to change that system.”

The government plans to implement a demerit point system similar to driver’s licenses, where people will lose points every time they skip an interview.

It’s believed the move will save $632 million over five years and force people to stick to the rules.

Recent data shows that 800,000 Australians are on Newstart payments, but it appears the minority who flout the system are giving the welfare handouts a bad name.

Is your suburb on the list? Do you think the demerit point system will work?