Welfare recipients who persistently game their job-seeking obligations will be swiftly punished under a Turnbull government crackdown.
Most jobseekers do the right thing but a small group of capable people consistently skip appointments with employment service providers until they need to re-engage, Human Services Minister Alan Tudge says.
"For those that are gaming the system, we need to introduce stronger, more immediate consequences," he told AAP on Monday, eight days out from the federal budget.
Last year, 7006 jobseekers missed their appointments and re-engaged at the very end of each fortnight at least twice in a row, allowing their welfare payments to continue without any financial consequence.
Of those, almost half repeated the strategy at least six times during the year.
An additional 16,492 people were identified for their "unusual" behaviour in attending job-seeking appointments (at less regular intervals) to prevent their welfare payments being pulled.
Mr Tudge said it was critical to close loopholes allowing capable jobseekers to avoid their obligations.
"It is in their interests as much as the community's for them to get back to work as quickly as possible, because the longer a person is on welfare, the steeper the road back to employment," he said.
