There are five low-skilled applicants competing for every entry-level job, making it impossible for some unemployed Australians to find work, new research on job availability has found.
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As the Morrison government continues to resist calls to raise Newstart, arguing people should get a job instead, Anglicare Australia says "it is a simple mathematical fact" there are not enough jobs to go around.
In its Jobs Availability Snapshot, Anglicare Australia compared government data on the number of unemployed people who have significant barriers to gaining work with the number of suitable online positions advertised in May 2019.
Barriers to gaining work include disability, not finishing high school, losing your job in your 50s and being a refugee or Indigenous Australian.
As of May 2019, there were 704,700 unemployed people, with nearly 100,000 classified as facing significant barriers to finding a job. It found there were 18,200 low-skilled entry-level jobs advertised that month.
Based on these figures, Anglicare says there are about five low-skilled job seekers competing for every low-skilled job. Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers explained this was a conservative estimate as it did not include recent graduates or others who may be seeking to boost their income with a low-skilled job.
"To us, this [report] blows a hole in the 'just get a job' argument," Ms Chambers said.
According to the government's talking points, accidentally released on Monday, in response to questions about Newstart, MPs are supposed to note: "the best form of welfare is a job. And the government is absolutely focussed on getting people off welfare and into work".
Anglicare's report found the low-skilled jobs are "drying up" due to labour market changes and a growing emphasis on more complex jobs. This year, only 10 per cent of job vacancies did not require qualifications or work experience, down from 22 per cent in 2006.
Along with an immediate increase to the rate of Newstart, which is about $40 a day for a single person, Anglicare said the payment should be set by an independent commission, to take it out of the hands of politicians.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said almost 1.5 million jobs had been created since the Coalition won government in 2013.
"The labour market is constantly providing opportunities for unemployed people," she said.
She added the government spent "billions every year to provide job seekers of all abilities the best opportunity for employment that works for them".
The government announced an overhaul of unemployment services before the election. Senator Cash said the national rollout - due in 2022 - will "redirect resources to be better spent on those who face the greatest barriers in the job market".
