Almost 30 people are competing for each entry-level role in Australia and people without qualifications or work experience are spending an average of five years looking for work, a new Anglicare report found.
One-in-10 of these job seekers do not have recent experience or qualifications, or have other problems accessing work.
Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said the government is punishing people who cannot find work.
"Our system is failing those who need the most help to find work – people with disabilities, who did not finish year 12, or older workers who lost their jobs later in life," she said.
"We need to create entry-level opportunities for people in growing industries like aged and disability care and we need to lift job seekers out of poverty.
"The pandemic is still raging. The jobs are not there for the people who need them. Nobody should be trapped in poverty while they look for work."
Mutual obligations for unemployed Australians restarted in the ACT this week, in NSW last week and are due to begin in Victoria towards the end of the month.
Attending appointments with employment service providers, agreeing to a job plan and reporting job searches are all compulsory to avoid unemployment payments being suspended or reduced.
There are more than a million job seekers vying for 38,000 entry level jobs, the report found.
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