Sixty-three-year-old jobseeker forced to make 250km round trip to keep welfare benefits

A 63-year-old woman from regional South Australia needs to make a 250km round trip to meet her mutual obligations and keep her benefits under the new $1.5bn-a-year Workforce Australia program.

Under the mutual obligations system, jobseekers who are connected with a job agency must attend appointments with case workers at an employment services provider to keep their payments. However, these appointments do not count towards the new points-based activation system which requires jobseekers to complete various tasks to get enough points to keep their welfare payments.

It comes after another jobseeker told Guardian Australia this week he would need to travel 60km by bus to his appointment after the job agency in his town closed. According to public transport timetables, Joel Ribergaard would leave home at 10.40am and arrive back home again at 7.40pm to attend the meeting due to the infrequency of bus services in the Victorian region of Gippsland.

While there is a pause on welfare penalties until 1 August, jobseekers who do not attend their appointments have their benefits temporarily suspended for failing to meet their mutual obligations.

Michelle said there had been a job agency in Yorketown but it closed after the Jobactive program was replaced by Workforce Australia this month.

After contacting her new provider, Michelle said she was advised her initial appointment would need to be conducted in person, as would every second meeting in the future.

Guardian Australia reported this week that there are 80 fewer job agency sites under the new model after thousands of jobseekers were instead referred to an online portal rather than a provider.

Michelle is currently working casually at a local cafe, but her hours have been reduced to between three and seven in recent weeks.

*Name has been changed for privacy