Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party, Minister for Workforce Participation) Share this | Hansard source

in reply—In summing up this debate on the Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work and Vocational Rehabilitation Services) Bill 2006 I would like to thank all members for their contributions. In 2002 this government brought forward the Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (Disability Reform) Bill 2002, the Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (Disability Reform) Bill (No. 2) 2002 and the Family and Community Services Legislation Amendment (Disability Reform) Bill (No. 2) 2002 [No. 2]. These bills aimed to reform the legacy of Labor’s outdated welfare arrangements. These arrangements consigned disadvantaged Australians to a life on welfare rather than assisting them back into work. Labor opposed the reforms then and voted them down. We wanted to assist disabled Australians to rehabilitate and, if necessary, to upskill them so they could return to work if they had at least a part-time capacity, but the opposition said no. Labor wanted to keep the disabled on pensions until they reached old age. They no doubt thought that their time-honoured practice would reduce their unemployment statistics.

The then shadow minister for family and community services and now shadow Treasurer, the member for Lilley, said at the time that our disability pension reforms were ‘an unprecedented attack on the 3.1 million Australians who have a disability’, but he then went on to say in the same speech:

This country and this society desperately need real welfare reform. We need a community, a whole of government and a political commitment to welfare reform.

Labor has opposed every major employment and welfare reform undertaken by this government, including the introduction of the highly successful Job Network and Work for the Dole, the tackling of Indigenous welfare dependency, the introduction of mutual obligation, helping parents on pensions back to work, and disability support pension reforms. These later changes have been rolled into our highly successful and acclaimed Welfare to Work reforms, which we were able to pass into legislation some 18 months ago.

These amendments to the Disability Services Act 1986 are about increasing choice and diversity for people who need rehabilitation to help them get back into a job. Under Labor, workers left behind by structural change and damaged by years of hard work were simply consigned to an alienated life on the disability support pension. Labor made no genuine effort to vocationally rehabilitate or re-skill these individuals to help them to remain in the workplace, or to return according to their capacity. The John Howard-led government recognises the fundamental importance of vocational rehabilitation for an injured or otherwise disabled worker. We aim to assist the job seeker to understand, compensate for or manage their injury, disability or health condition so they can rebuild their capacity to work. We aim to help them to avoid re-injury and, most importantly of all, to find and retain meaningful employment.

From listening to the contributions from a number of speakers from the opposition, it is clear that the Labor Party, despite its rhetoric, still does not support real, results based reforms to help people to move from welfare to work. Labor would have you believe that this bill is about penalising people who do not have a capacity to work, such as people with permanent and severe disabilities and parents with very young children. Of course, that is not the case. The member for Lalor said in her contribution:

... welfare changes have reduced the financial rewards from work and make it harder for people to get the education or training that they need to get a job.

In fact, the government’s Welfare to Work policy delivers a substantial investment in training and employment services and supports people who can work at least part-time through providing the right incentives to move from welfare to work.

There will always be a safety net for those who cannot work due to a disability or because they have responsibility for children under school age or have some other condition which simply makes it impossible for them to sustain themselves in our economy. Every caring government has aimed to keep a safety net well and truly in place.

With an unemployment rate of some 4.5 per cent, a booming economy and an ageing population, there has never been a better time to assist people on welfare to get real jobs. Under our reforms, people are not on their own in their search for work. We have a comprehensive suite of services, including vocational rehabilitation services that offer people opportunities to improve their skills, to participate in work experience and to undertake training. In the last year we have seen a rise in the number of people getting jobs. The Job Network made a difference to almost 650,000 people by placing them in work—50,000 of this group were parents on pensions, 47,000 were Indigenous Australians and 81,700 were from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Speakers on the other side talk of obligation and opportunity but give the Australian people little insight into how their alternative policies would deliver this. This government’s comprehensive suite of services and supports has proven that it delivers jobs; in fact, in the last six months, more jobs have been delivered to the unemployed—those previously on welfare—than was managed in the last six years under Labor’s employment services strategies. When the opposition was in government, unemployment rates were in double digits.

This bill will provide choice for people who want and need help to return to work. The Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service currently assists this group. This bill will open up the vocational rehabilitation market to a range of organisations that specialise in supporting people to get back into work and will develop relationships with employers who are prepared to give these people a go.

I would like to highlight the fact that all of the vocational rehabilitation providers appointed through the new tender will have to be suitably qualified and experienced in delivering tailored and appropriate services to clients, based on their individual needs. The quality of all services delivered by providers of Australian government employment services are closely monitored by the department, and any complaints are taken very seriously.

The proposed amendment has limited application as the vocational rehabilitation contracts will not come into operation until 1 July 2007. During the period covered by item 17 of the bill, both houses will continue to have the ability to disallow any vocational rehabilitation services guidelines, consistent with the Legislative Instruments Act 2003. People who have an ongoing eligibility for the disability support pension or parenting payment will continue to receive the pensioner education supplement. Those who most need it will have that access.

There are also a range of quality assurance and compliance measures. For example, new providers of vocational rehabilitation services will be subject to a range of quality assurance measures. The current tender requires tenderers to lift the qualifications of their organisation and staff. This will be taken into account in assessing successful tenderers, and all vocational rehabilitation services will be subject to regular compliance checks and measures. There are comprehensive contractual requirements that specify the standards of the services to be observed. These include a service guarantee, code of practice and performance reviews. Providers must also comply with the legislative disability service standards, which set out a range of standards that must be met in the provision of a rehabilitation program. Compliance with these standards is independently assessed. Breaches of these contractual or legislative standards can result in a range of penalties being applied. An independent complaints mechanism is in place and is available to participants who may be dissatisfied with any aspect of the service that they are receiving.

I commend this bill to the House. It is an important part of our welfare reforms for some of the most disadvantaged people in this country.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

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