A bold idea would see unemployment welfare in Australia overhauled on a region-by-region basis to cut the fat on spending. 

More than 112,000 people are officially unemployed in Queensland but around 218,000 receive JobSeeker or Youth Allowance payments.

Sofie Formica is concerned the system is costing Australia millions with employment agencies profiting on how many interviews they secure rather than how many people they get employed.

Former Council of Small Business Organisations Australia CEO Peter Strong told Sofie Formica the system needs to be turned on its head.

“What I really believe is the solution to this is to … ask communities around Australia what they think needs to be done,” he said.

“What we’ve got is one model that’s supposed to be the same for Mt Isa, supposed to be the same for all parts of Brisbane, supposed to be the same for Toowoomba.

“Those communities are different – they’ve got different types of unemployed people, different types of employers, and you need the community to be able to respond.”

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Image: Getty