Nghi Huynh has been in and out of the welfare system for the past three years.
The TAFE-qualified 25-year-old chef has plenty of work experience but is finding it hard to break the cycle of unemployment.
"I will go on Newstart and be on payments for anywhere between three to six months, find work, and then just go through a cycle," he told AAP on Wednesday.
The Sydney resident has never been on work for the dole but is now considering taking up the government's new jobs plan for young people.
Under the plan unveiled in Tuesday's budget, young unemployed people can get a $200 top-up to their fortnightly welfare payment if they participate in a business-led internship program.
While the measure has been cautiously backed by social services groups, unions have slammed it as a "$4 an hour" US-style internship program.
They dismissed it as "breadcrumbs" to deal with the nation's major youth unemployment problem.
"(It) amounts to a taxpayer-funded youth exploitation scheme," ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union believes it benefits business more than people.
"Young workers can expect better paid jobs in Thailand," president Andrew Dettmer said.
Nghi agrees, saying employers could take advantage of the system without providing struggling youth any guarantee of a full-time job.
He wants some form of penalty on dodgy businesses, saying $4 an hour looked attractive in the eyes of potentially unethical employers.
Business understandably is overjoyed by the proposal - not just because they get up to $10,000 under the plan.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has long been campaigning for a youth jobs plan, says it's about giving young people a go even if there is no guaranteed job.
"But there are no guarantees in life," chief James Pearson told AAP.
Mr Pearson acknowledges it's not easy to get a job these days but the government's genuine effort to tackle youth unemployment was worth celebrating.
"It may take several goes of that before they find work but every time they do that internship they're acquiring more skills."
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says it's easy to be very cynical about the plan.
"What we're seeking to do is tackle this challenge of youth unemployment, and give these young people a chance to work, to get the experience of a workplace," he told ABC radio.
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