Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure to rise today to speak on the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Employment Services Reform) Bill 2008. I am not sure that I can quite follow the contribution made by the member for Moreton. It was quite an extraordinary piece! But I will do my utmost to talk to this very important legislation. This bill distinguishes Labor from Liberal. It distinguishes the conservatives from the progressives. It is an example of two different philosophies. The Liberals and the conservatives have always fundamentally believed that disadvantaged people have only themselves to blame and, therefore, the only way to help the disadvantaged is to punish them. The conservatives believe the only way to deal with the disadvantaged is to blame them, shame them and vilify them.

Labor have a different view. We believe disadvantage arises for a multiplicity of reasons. We believe helping people with disadvantage makes us a stronger community. We believe the conservatives’ view of punishing the disadvantaged is not just old-fashioned but also totally counterproductive. It leads to demoralisation. It puts families at risk. It puts workers who deliver these services at risk. Ultimately, it costs us more as a society and it costs us more as an economy. Labor believe in justice and encouragement. Labor believe in providing fairness and incentives. And we believe in evidence based social policy. This bill redresses the failures of the current system imposed by a former, mean Prime Minister. The purpose of this bill is to ensure compliance through a more understandable and equitable means of encouraging participation. This legislation establishes a framework that makes job seekers more accountable for their efforts to find and keep a job but also provides encouragement and support along the way.

Encouragement, support and accountability are the values of this bill. The Rudd government is introducing these measures as part of a $3.9 billion package of reforms to the Australian employment services to commence on 1 July 2009. This legislation provides a new compliance framework for approximately 620,000 people who receive Newstart allowance, youth allowance other, parenting payment or special benefit and have participation requirements. This bill will amend the Social Security Act 1991 and the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to give effect to the measures announced in the 2008-09 budget. These reforms are critical because over the past 10 years employment services have been operating under a policy and administrative constraints that have failed disadvantaged job seekers in the extreme.

Just over 10 years ago the unemployment rate was 7.7 per cent. Whilst unemployment is now around 4.1 per cent, a significantly higher proportion of job seekers are highly disadvantaged and long-term unemployed. The increased proportion of long-term unemployed is a direct result of the previous, conservative government’s flawed policies. I want to make a specific point here. Let us think about it. We have had a significant increase in the proportion of long-term unemployed when we have had the longest-lasting economic boom in the nation’s history. What an opportunity that has been missed. What sort of heartless policy did the previous government put in place? We had a unique opportunity of economic good times to help the long-term unemployed, and what did the conservatives do? They punished them. They created a greater problem than was required. The conservatives’ punitive social policy hurt the unemployed, and it has cost our society, I believe, dearly. People who, for example, suffer from mental health issues or other disabilities such as language or literacy issues have found it even more difficult to work, due to the nature of this current framework.

The current policy has created a harder core of long-term unemployed. But it is not just the unemployed and the disadvantaged who have suffered under the conservatives—business has suffered, too. These policies and constraints have also failed employers who desperately need skilled workers to fill vacancies. Australia is experiencing skill shortages in a number of critical areas and is looking at a shortfall of up to 240,000 VET qualified workers by 2016. It is vital for our economy and the future of economic growth that unemployment services and the compliance regime that underpins them work.

This legislation is not about providing a free ride. That is the rhetoric of the conservatives. That is the ugly myth that the conservatives promoted to justify their punishing regime. It is absolutely too true that Australians believe that if you are on taxpayer funded income support then you should work hard to find work. The first goal of the new compliance system is to ensure job seekers meet their participation requirements and make every effort to get themselves off welfare and into the workplace. Job seekers who will not look for work will have their support reconsidered, and this is one of the key differences between the old legislation and the new. The new system will give job seekers the opportunity to explain the circumstances that led to the breach. In the case of the alleged breach, a job seeker will be asked why they are not conforming. This has the effect of providing an opportunity for both sides to discuss the issues. It is an opportunity to get a better understanding of why the breach has occurred and to give the job seeker a chance to respond. Centrelink will use a comprehensive compliance assessment to determine whether there are good reasons for a job seeker to not be complying—for example, someone who is in stream 1 but has recently become homeless and should therefore be in stream 4. Where an eight-week non-payment period is applied, the new compliance regime will encourage job seekers to take responsibility for their actions and to re-engage.

Redemption is often the turning point—it can be invigorating; it can reinstil the confidence to continue. By humanising the process and recognising the breach, both parties can go forward, instead of welfare organisations being left to pick up the pieces and the front-line public servants being left to deal with the rage through the process. Australians with the right support and encouragement are more likely to overcome an extended period of unemployment. The key is to get the positive outcome, to avoid a welfare mess. Madam Deputy Speaker, excuse me, I have to pause for a moment. I have a dry throat.

See this speech in context