Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said the Abbott government is deliberately trying to smear all income support recipients with this latest ‘tough cop on the beat' approach to welfare.

"Appointing a senior police officer to target welfare fraud implies that the problems with the system are all related to deliberate fraud rather than administrative errors resulting from a complex and unwieldy system that leads to the majority of overpayments or in fact underpayments," said Senator Siewert said.

The Australian Greens have reacted angrily to the Government's suggestion that people are retiring on Newstart, saying the claim is misguided and malicious.

"The Government clearly misunderstand both the job market and just how hard it is to survive on Newstart. Older Australians do not want to live in poverty, which is living on Newstart," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on family and community services said today.

The Australian Greens said today that new evidence on the dire inadequacy of allowance payments, including Newstart, shows the urgent need for the Government to increase levels of income support and move away from irresponsible changes to payment indexation.

"The gap between pensions and allowances is now $170 a week, and allowances are falling in value when compared with both the minimum wage and the pension," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on family and community services said today.

The Australian Greens said today that a significant increase in the number of long term Newstart Allowance recipients must lead to a dramatic re-think of the Government's attitude to jobseekers and income support.

"These figures are yet more evidence of the challenges facing Australia's jobseekers. This increase is a clear sign that Newstart Allowance and employment services are failing to support people into secure work," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on family and community services said today.

The Australian Greens said today that there is yet more evidence on how the Government's unjustifiable Earn or Learn regime will punish young Australians facing significant levels of underemployment.

The Australian Greens said today that new information from the Department of Employment shows the Government is expanding Work for the Dole without justification.

"The Government has been heavily criticised this week for their proposed expansion of Work for the Dole, and now more information from Senate Estimates shows just how unjustified this approach is," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on family and community services said today.

The Australian Greens have called on the Abbott Government to re-think its Work for the Dole changes, amid serious concerns about the policy.

"The Government is more interested in punishing job seekers than helping people into work, and their expansion of Work for the Dole is more evidence of that," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on family and community services said today.