referred to a programme for a maximum of 6 months per year. To qualify for an unemployment benefit, a person must generally (a) within a two year period results in a two-month nonpayment of unemployment benefits. APPENDIX Be unemployed; Individual opinion by Committee member Ms. Ruth Wedgwood (b) Satisfy the “activity test” or be exempt from it by virtue of, for example, being in full-time education, being in a remote area, giving birth to a child, and so forth. The “activity test” requires a person to be actively seeking and willing to undertake suitable paid work and to attend such programmes, for example the Work for the Dole programme, and training that may be directed; In a world that is still replete with problems of caste, customary systems of peonage and indentured labour, forced labour in remote areas under conditions that often mimic slavery, and the disgrace of sexual trafficking in persons, it demeans the significance of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to suppose that a reasonable work and training requirement for participation in national unemployment benefits in a modern welfare state could amount to “forced or compulsory labour” within the meaning of article 8 (3) (a). (c) Be prepared to enter into and comply with a ‘Preparing for Work’ Agreement, which may include participating in a Work for Dole programme; and Australia has a programme of unemployment benefits that supports new job seekers for six months, so long as they are willing to accept gainful employment. After six months, continued receipt of benefits may be conditioned on the participant’s willingness to enhance his or her job skills and give something back to the community, through a “Work for Dole” programme. The latter programme is limited to 12 hours per week (for persons under 21 years of age), and 15 hours per week (for persons of 21 years or older). (d) Satisfy certain other formal criteria of age, residence and the like. After receiving an unemployment benefit for six months, an unemployed person must, if subject to “activity testing”, commence a programme or activity of their choice, of which the Work for Dole programme is one, geared towards enhancing their employment prospects. Failure on the part of the person to choose a programme or activity results in referral for a Work for Dole placement for six months as a matter of administrative practice if: The author of this communication, Ms. Bernadette Faure, began to draw unemployment benefits immediately after leaving high school in 1996. In November 2000, after attending an “Intensive Assistance” programme at a Government-accredited employment agency, she failed to comply with the terms of a “Preparing for Work Agreement” and her public benefit was partially reduced. She then failed to attend three scheduled interviews with an employer called “Mission Australia” as part of the Work for Dole programme. Finally, in July 2001, she took part successfully in the “Work for Dole” programme and worked at a job placement until 7 October 2001. She started another placement on 24 October 2001, but failed to show up on 30 October or 5–6 November 2001, and did not corroborate her claim of illness with any medical certificate. The unexcused absence on 30 October resulted in a rate reduction of 24 per cent and the second absence resulted in cancellation of her benefits. Her benefits were reinstated on 26 February 2002. (a) The person receives the full rate of unemployment benefit; (b) The person possesses the skills and experience to perform the required tasks; (c) The tasks of the employment placement in question are medically appropriate and do not otherwise pose occupational health and safety; and (d) satisfied. Certain other requirements are Once a Work for Dole placement begins, the person’s unemployment benefit is augmented by $A 21 per week reflecting the extra costs of participating in the programme. Community Work Coordinators both assist the person in the placement and submit, under strict requirements, participation reports to ensure that participation requirements are being met. Ms. Faure asserts that Australia has imposed a type of “forced or compulsory labour” forbidden by the Covenant, by requiring that she should take part in a work and training programme as a condition of receiving public unemployment benefits. The State party argues that the programme contributes to the acquisition of employment skills, and is a form of “mutual obligation” that respects the claims of the community and the job seeker, Ms. Faure, characterizes the work requirement in terms one might have thought originally aimed at horrific instances such as the forced labour required by colonial powers to build canals and roads, rather than the mutual obligations of a modern democratic society. Failure to commence or complete the Work for Dole programme, including where this forms part of a Preparing for Work Agreement, or failure to comply with conditions of a Work for Dole programme, result, in the absence of reasonable excuse, in an “activity test” breach and accompanying financial penalties in the form of reduced payment of unemployment benefits. Any third such breach Professor Manfred Nowak, in his work on the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, CCPR Commentary (2nd edition 2005), at page 202, has concluded that “The mere lapse of unemployment 74