GOVERNMENT’S CDP PROGRAM IS DISCRIMINATORY AND BROKEN

The Government’s Community Development Program (CDP) is broken and needs to be completely abolished and replaced, not restarted.

This week however, the government is resuming the CDP, following a temporary suspension in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Government’s failure to replace the program and deliver a real jobs program is a huge missed opportunity.

The penalty regime under the CDP has proven to be unreasonably punitive, nasty and counterproductive – with a disproportionate number of breaches – leaving participants falling through the cracks.

It also disproportionately impacts First Nations Australians who make over 80 per cent of participants – plainly put, it is discriminatory.

The Government’s broken and discriminatory Community Development Program is no substitute for a plan for job creation and economic development.

The Government should look to the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) program which is an example of a tried and tested model for job creation and economic development.

The Government has squandered an opportunity to deliver meaningful change for some of Australia’s most disadvantaged communities.