Labor would keep ParentsNext despite admitting it causes ‘great distress’

Majority Labor-Greens committee agrees program causes anxiety to many participants but is divided on course of action

A Labor government would retain but overhaul the contentious ParentsNext welfare program, which a Senate inquiry report said on Friday was causing “anxiety, stress and harm” for many of the 70,000 participants.

The pre-employment program is compulsory for people receiving parenting payment with children as young as six months who are classified as “disadvantaged” by Centrelink. It should not “continue in its current form”, the Senate committee report said.

Continue reading...

from World news | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2JNg2xt