ACOSS: Under Abbott Government an est. 100,000 people under 30 will have no income support for six months of any year they are unemployed

Excerpt from an Australian Council of Social Service media release dated 21 May 2014:

The budget brings especially dire news for the 12 per cent of workers under 30 years of age who find themselves out of a job. They will have to wait six months for their first income support payment, then survive on no income for six months of every year of unemployment.

Despite talk of exemptions, ACOSS estimates that about 100,000 young people each year will lose income support through this measure. This budget measure risks creating a lost generation by depriving young people of the support they desperately need at precisely the time they need it most to set them on their way in life. We are still waiting to hear how the new rules to deny income support to young people up to 29 years for six months of every year will provide them with opportunity.

A six-month limit on social security for young people is a blunt instrument that is a kick in the guts for people who are simply struggling to survive and find a job. If the government believes that this many people are rorting the benefit system it should provide the evidence, and that must extend beyond anecdotes.