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.