Meagre dole payment doesn't just hurt the unemployed

You know that something is wrong with the dole when even conservative economists come out publicly to say the amount is obscenely low.

At the recent tax forum, there was furious agreement on both sides of the political spectrum, from bone-dry, hard-headed economists to the small "l" liberal left, that unemployed Australians are barely scraping by.

The inadequacy of the Newstart Allowance has a number of ramifications – for individual recipients and for the broader community.    More Read