<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>334906</docID> <postdate>2024-12-09 08:45:44</postdate> <headline>More people unemployed for longer: ACOSS</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-334907" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20200323001458839554-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="619" /></p> <caption>Almost 560,000 Australians have been receiving unemployment payments for more than a year. (James Gourley/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Kat Wong</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Unemployed Australians are struggling to find a job as entry-level opportunities dry up, leaving many reliant on income support for years.</strong></p> <p>About 557,000 people have been receiving unemployment payments for more than a year, up from 51 per cent in 2021 to 60 per cent in 2024, a report from the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) reveals.</p> <p>Half this group have a health condition, the majority are women and almost a third are over the age of 55, which means they can face significant barriers to employment.</p> <p>Roughly 190,000 people have been on these allowances for more than five years and only eight per cent of this demographic transition off their payments.</p> <p>Those dependent on them say they can barely afford to live.</p> <p>"Every decision becomes a calculation: do I buy medication or groceries? Can I afford a doctor's visit?" said income support recipient David, who lives in Adelaide.</p> <p>"You start to feel invisible, forgotten by a system that claims to support you.</p> <p>"The longer I remain unemployed, the more ingrained the problems become."</p> <p>Unemployed people often transition back into paid employment through entry-level positions but these opportunities have decreased by one percentage point since 2020 and almost four percentage points since 1998.</p> <p>Workforce Australia, the government program which delivers employment services for job seekers, has also been accused of failing to help people into work, with only one in 10 participants finding a job that keeps them off income support for at least six months.</p> <p>Australia's unemployment support is amongst the lowest of wealthy nations, according to ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie.</p> <p>The nation spends 0.4 per cent of its GDP on labour market policies, compared to Denmark and New Zealand who spend 1.7 per cent.</p> <p>"We urgently need a complete overhaul of employment policy," Dr Goldie said.</p> <p>The council has called on the government to increase welfare payments to at least $82 a day, end automated payment suspensions, establish an independent quality assurance body for employment service providers and more.</p> </body>