Greens Senator Rachel Siewert has told the Senate her office has been inundated from people who said they were pressured by private providers of the government's JobActive scheme to be applying for work and even attending in-person meetings during lockdown.

As numbers on the JobSeeker payment skyrocketed and the economy floundered, the government suspended its mutual obligation program, under which those out of work must attend appointments, apply for jobs or undertake training in order to keep their payments.

The private job agencies were paid lump sums at the start of the pandemic to cover six weeks of administration fees to make up for the fees they wouldn't be paid while appointments and applications weren't necessary.

Despite this Senator Siewert said the private providers hadn't stopped contacting people, including those who were immuno-suppressed.

One person told Senator Siewert they had been threatened with a payment suspension.

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"My provider in Murray Bridge called me and told me I had to do a four-day online course at home and if I don't I'll be forced to do it when mutual obligations are running again or face a 16-week payment suspension," one account that was read into Hansard said.

"[JobActive] is not fit for purpose and even more so during this pandemic and also coming out and during the recovery period, it's just not going to meet the needs of people who are looking for work," Senator Siewert said.

The mutual obligation program partially restarted on June 9, with jobseekers now required to do at least one appointment, which can be done online or over the phone. Payment suspensions and penalties are not yet in place but are set to return as well.