Australia is known to be a welfare state, but welfare is not readily available.
Centrelink reportedly suspended 1.6 million benefits in the previous fiscal year, and four hundred thousand job seekers were punished for failing to accept job interview arrangements.
As of June 2018, an estimated eight hundred and seventy thousand people were looking for jobs in Australia, according to the latest statistics.
At the same time, more than 150 income subsidies were suspended, some for up to eight weeks, after job interviews were not offered.
Another one hundred and three thousand people have been temporarily frozen for failing to participate in training programmes or for not complying with assigned work plans.
When job seekers start interviewing again, the suspension of subsidies is usually lifted.
But many blame Centrelink's income-subsidy payment system, saying it is flawed in some ways.
Thousands of job seekers complained that they had not received job offers or interviews arranged by Centrelink representatives.
Social Services minister said the Liberal government wanted to emphasize that benefits are not free "handouts" and that both government and welfare applicants have an obligation to work to reduce the number of people living on welfare.
According to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics at the end of last year, the working age of Centrelink-dependent Australians has fallen by 5 percent, the lowest since April 2012.