Labor eyeing changes to ‘punitive’ mutual obligations for jobseekers, draft party platform suggests

Commitment to review welfare rules for unemployed people has lifted expectations the government will axe requiurements such as work for the dole

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Mutual obligations can be “punitive” and a barrier to employment, according to the Labor Party’s draft national platform, which advocates have welcomed as a step towards dumping requirements such as work for the dole.

The draft platform, sent to delegates on Monday ahead of Labor’s national conference in August, has dropped reference to supporting a “fair” system of mutual obligations alongside a range of other changes recognising affordable housing as a human right and recommitting to end LGBTIQ+ vilification.

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