Teenagers not in work or school should lose welfare: Andrew Forrest

Teenagers will be stripped of welfare benefits if they are not earning, learning or training if the federal government takes up advice from a mining magnate.

(File: AAP)

The coalition government is considering stripping people under 19 of welfare if they are not in school or work, the ABC reports.

 

The idea comes from billionaire miner Andrew Forrest, who is finalising a government-commissioned review of indigenous training and employment.

 

The prime minister's parliamentary secretary for Indigenous Affairs, Alan Tudge, says the proposal is being looked at.

 

There should be "hard" rules on teenagers to make welfare less appealing, he says.

 

"We do no one a service by making welfare an attraction for a person to leave school and go onto the dole," Mr Tudge told ABC radio on Tuesday.

School leavers would also have to wait six months before they could apply for welfare.