By Reuters, 7/15/2003

SYDNEY (Reuters) -- Returning to work took on an unexpected meaning for an unemployed Australian man when the government's job network told him to apply to an agency looking for female escorts.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp said an employment agency contracted by the government to help the unemployed find work matched the man to two advertisements seeking "Ladies of all Ages".

"I don't think the government should be expecting job seekers to apply for a job as a prostitute," the man, who asked to be identified only as Tom, told the ABC Tuesday.

The ABC said the advertisements had been included in Tom's list of possible options by mistake.

Prostitution is legal in some parts of Australia but strictly licensed.