Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) it has been reported that a coffee chain in Melbourne allowed an intern to work hours well beyond the maximum 50 hours per fortnight as part of the Government's Youth Jobs PaTH program, and rostered on another young job seeker before the internship had even begun, and

  (ii) on both occasions, management at the coffee chain offered visa gift cards as payment;

(b) acknowledges that:

  (i) we are already seeing allegations of exploitation as predicted just months into the program, and

  (ii) similar internship programs overseas saw systemic exploitation and churn, and this was repeatedly raised as a concern; and

(c) calls on the Government to:

  (i) permanently ban the coffee chain responsible from further partaking in the Government's Youth Jobs PaTH program, and

  (ii) carry out an audit as a matter of urgency of the Youth Jobs PaTH program to ensure no other employers are exploiting young job seekers.