Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Look, there are many things. We have many programs, such as the SAAP program for people with disabilities that provides supported accommodation. There is also additional funding with youth packages—for example, the JPET program under DEWR. There are also a number of programs under the community services portfolio, such as Reconnect, which is funding for services that assist young people where they could be at risk of homelessness or are already homeless and are disengaged from education and from their family. These programs work very effectively to reconnect young people—who are, or who are at risk of, experiencing homelessness—with their family, with the education process and often with work.

Let me return to my points here. The alignment of the word ‘homelessness’ will remove inequity between eligible groups and cast a much wider net, thus providing both a more streamlined administrative process and access to benefits to a broader range of people. An equally important role for this bill is in line with the government’s commitment to reduce red tape and streamline government processes. This bill delivers on that commitment in repealing seven acts relating to housing that are no longer operational. Such action maintains the statute books when acts become redundant, an important and often overlooked part of the legislative process.

The remaining measures in the bill are technical corrections and refinements. Many are consequential to the commencement of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 and reflect the new concepts and arrangements established by that act. This bill will achieve the necessary procedural and equity changes to improve administration, clarify benefits and eligibility and tidy up the statute books.

If I may, I will make a few comments with regard to some of the comments made by the opposition earlier about Welfare to Work and Work Choices. I have worked extensively with people that have been dependent on welfare and with many single parents over a 25-year period, and in my experience the Welfare to Work measures do indeed provide opportunities for single parents and those with disabilities who can work to increase their income and improve their lifestyle by gaining employment—contrary to the opposition, who claim that the measures will reduce their payments. Provisions such as the two-year period after their last child returns to school give them an opportunity over those two years to train and gain skills before returning to work. This recognises the need that these single parents have to upskill themselves so they can step into the workforce. It is also ensuring that at a time of low unemployment and high vacancy rates people that have been either on single parent payment or on disability support payment have every opportunity to take advantage of this strong economic climate.

I also wish to note that we cannot stand still at this point in time, when we have a strong economy with low unemployment rates—which have, incidentally, dropped since the introduction of the Work Choices legislation. This reform is essential to ensure that the record economic growth over the last 10 years does continue into the next decade and that the situation for young people particularly is improved. So it is important that we continue to make the necessary decisions to ensure that the prosperity, the low unemployment rate and the growth in jobs continue into the next decade. In conclusion, I am pleased to speak on this bill and commend it to the House.

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