A Senate Inquiry is being held into the Federal Government’s Community Development Program (CDP), which is the work-for-the-dole scheme that operates in remote communities across Australia. People in remote communities who receive income support benefits and are able to work, are required to work 25 hours per week in order to receive their benefits.

A ‘no work, no pay’ policy means that if people don’t attend their ‘work-like-activities’ or are late or do not report to Centrelink, they can lose up to one tenth of their income support – with many people not getting any support for up to eight weeks at a time. A key challenge with the CDP is that there are simply not enough jobs in remote communities.

This Uniting Communities submission, prepared by the Anangu Lands Paper Tracker, sets out the range of concerns that Anangu communities have with the CDP and its punitive approach.

The Senate Inquiry will provide a report on its findings in mid-September.