Labor, Greens slam youth dole changes

Federal Labor and the Australian Greens have condemned a plan by the Abbott government to force young job seekers to wait for four weeks before they receive a welfare payment.

A parliamentary committee, chaired and dominated by government senators, recommended the budget measure - which also strips about $48 a week from 22- to 24-year-olds on welfare - be passed.

But in dissenting reports, Labor and Greens senators said the recommendation did not reflect most of the submissions on the bill made to the inquiry and accused the government of attacking young people.

The two parties are concerned the measures would push vulnerable people into financial hardship.

The government this year scaled back the 2014 budget measure from a six-month wait to four weeks.