Labor to offer relocation cash to jobless

The Labor Party is to offer cash incentives for long-term jobless Australians to relocate to find work.

The Labor Party is to offer cash incentives for long-term jobless Australians to relocate to find work.

Julia Gillard announced yesterday that a re-elected Labor Government will bring in new measures to help “encourage workforce participation and focus new effort on modernising Australia’s welfare system”.

And employers will receive a $2,500 financial incentive for taking on a relocated jobseeker as part of this package. Unemployed will be offered $6,000 to move to take up a job in a regional area and $3,000 for those moving to a metropolitan.

These grants will be in the form of reimbursement of actual expenses incurred in the relocation, such as removalist’s costs.

Labor’s proposal would cost $14.8 million over three years from 2010-11.

If re-elected the scheme will be trialled for up to 2,000 eligible job seekers over two years from 1 January 2011.