Eighteen months after the death of a teenager on a Queensland Work for the Dole site, the government is still refusing to release the report into his death, or say what safety improvements have been made to prevent further injuries.
18-year-old Josh Park-Fing died from critical head injuries sustained when he fell from a flatbed trailer being towed by a tractor in April 2016. It's suspected the tractor slipped a gear and jolted, causing the teen to fall.
At the time he was completing a Work for the Dole program at the Toowoomba Showgrounds arranged by employment contractor NEATO.
Forensic teams from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland investigated the incident but have yet to complete their final report. The Department of Employment provided an internal report to employment minister Michaelia Cash in September last year.
Cash told Senate estimates last year that the report had been given to NEATO and workplace safety practices had been updated to ensure the protection of young people taking part in the program, but 18 months the minister still refuses to release those measures publicly.
Earlier this year, the Australian Unemployed Workers' Union (AUWU) was denied Freedom of Information (FOI) access to a copy of the Work for the Dole risk assessment for the site where Park-Fing died, or any information about what led to the teenager's death.
The Department of Employment said it denied the FOI request because the report contained information that could "harm" NEATO.
The AUWU says Work for the Dole injuries have increased five-fold under the Coalition's "jobactive" system.
In 2015-2016 there were 500 injuries sustained, out of 106,000 participants in the Work for the Dole programs, including the death of Park-Fing.
Of all complaints made to the AUWU national safety hotline, 30% were to report safety issues on Work for the Dole sites.
One person who worked at the site where Park-Fing died told the AUWU that when he expressed concern about driving a tractor, he was told by his supervisor that would face a penalty if he did not do the work.
Labor's shadow employment services minister Ed Husic told BuzzFeed News he suspects the government doesn't want to release the report because it fears sharing some of the blame for the tragic accident.
"Remember — the government forces young unemployed people to take part in a program that has massive question marks hanging over it when it comes to safety."
Husic says it's "simply unacceptable" that the Turnbull government has refused to release its internal review into this accident, or spell out what it has done to increase workplace safety in the program.
"The government's own internal audits have pointed out the need [for] better safety practices, and there have been further safety incidents in the program since this terrible accident 18 months ago.
"The nation's young unemployed and their families should expect nothing less than seeing the employment minister front the Senate today and provide a full ministerial report telling the public what's been done to safeguard their safety."
A spokesman for the employment minister told BuzzFeed News that Workplace Health and Safety Queensland had not finished its investigation into the Toowoomba Work for the Dole incident, or given a timeframe for the report being completed.
"Until the WHS Queensland investigation is finalised and its findings released, it would not be appropriate to comment on the details of the incident or to release information related to it."