Government News Index
'Disaster force' for jobless
By CHRISTINE JACKMAN
Sunday Mail (QLD)
24mar02
A "STRIKE FORCE" of unemployed volunteers will be sent to areas hit by natural disasters under a new Federal Government scheme.
Job-seekers who join the emergency teams will not be paid for their efforts mopping up after floods, fires or storms.
But they will be able to credit any time spent working on the disaster force towards Work for the Dole obligations.
Participants in the Work for the Dole scheme are required to do 15 hours of work a week for 26 weeks.
Employment Services Minister Mal Brough said strike force volunteers would not help at the height of a disaster, because of their lack of training and the risk of injury.
"But certainly in the clean-up stage, or even beforehand, in an activity such as sandbagging, there is a real opportunity to mobilise a considerable amount of manpower at relatively short notice," Mr Brough said.
"Work for the Dole participants who volunteer will be listed on a register, which can be activated as required."
Unemployed volunteers have previously been used on an ad hoc basis to help clean up after hail storms at Stanthorpe in southern Queensland, where they removed hail-damaged fruit, and in eastern Sydney.
Other Work for the Dole participants have helped repair fences damaged by bushfires at Boorowa in NSW, to sandbag homes threatened by high seas at Byron Bay, and clean up after floods in several western NSW towns.
Mr Brough said the strike force register would co-ordinate such efforts in future.
Community groups such as Meals on Wheels would also be able to call on the strike force if a natural disaster put strain on their normal services.