Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Improved Support for Carers) Bill 2009. This bill follows the report of the Carer Payment (child) Review Taskforce and it amends the criteria for assessment for carer payment in respect of a child to allow more Australians access to carer payments. It will take effect from 1 July 2009. This bill puts over $270 million in the pockets of Australian carers to support them when they need it most.

I would like to start by outlining the support that this government has provided to carers since being elected. Last year we announced one-off payments to the tune of $1,000 to carer payment recipients and others, along with $600 to eligible carer allowance recipients. In December 2008, as part of our first economic stimulus package, we delivered a further $1,400 to carer payment recipients and $1,000 to many carer allowance recipients. Aside from one-off payments, the Rudd government also committed $100 million for supported accommodation facilities for people with a disability, on top of $20 million for carers who have experienced a significant event involving a young child.

We saw in yesterday’s budget that we have further support for carers and for people with a disability. Yesterday, we announced some $9.3 million over four years for an additional 250 outside school hours care places for teenagers with a disability or serious medical condition. We also committed $3 million to the introduction of a new national disability parking permit scheme, on top of $1.8 million for a national companion card scheme for people with a disability and their carers.

As part of the budget, we announced that the new annual carer supplement of $600 will be paid to people who receive carer payment. This payment will be provided to around 450,000 recipients of carer allowance and an extra $600 for each person that they care for. This supplement is legislated, so it ends carers having to relay the largesse of governments at each budget time and hoping that there might be some one-off payment. This is a legislated carer payment supplement. That is an important difference from what happened previously.

Today we add to this support with the introduction of this bill. When the task force released their report late last year, entitled Carer payment (child): a new approach, they found that the qualification criteria for carer payment (child) were not reflective of the aim and purpose of the actual payment. The report found that the criteria for who was eligible for carer payments needed to be expanded. The report found that the current system was resulting in inequitable outcomes. This bill responds to these concerns. This bill changes the qualification criteria and assessment process to create a fairer system for carers of children with a profound disability.

This bill will deliver a new, fairer set of criteria to be applied in assessing eligibility for carer payment in respect of a child. The bill will introduce a system that will integrate the amount of care provided as an assessment measure. Qualification criteria will now be based on the level of care needed, not on the previously inflexible medical criteria. The bill will now provide a carer payment to all eligible carers providing support to a child with a profound disability. These are carers who do not currently receive carer benefits but who carry out a role as a carer.

This bill recognises those who previously were not acknowledged for their hard work in caring for others. The expansion of these criteria acknowledges the critical efforts of our carers. Under this bill, carers who are in receipt of carer payment (child) will now automatically receive a carers allowance. This bill will allow for carer payment (child) to be granted on a short-term or episodic basis. This has never previously been considered.

Administration of claims also needed improving. Under this bill, a new processing assessment claims team will be set up to specifically handle complicated claims. More careful assessment needs to be done on those complicated cases to take into account all of the circumstances facing families who care for a child with a profound disability or medical condition.

Many constituents in not only my electorate of Ballarat but all electorates across Australia are struggling to survive financially while caring for someone. These changes will direct dedicated funding to carers who simply cannot participate in paid employment because their role does not allow them to do so. Under this bill, qualification rules will also be relaxed where a person is caring for a child with a terminal illness. This will assist families when they are most in need. Finally, this bill will deliver improved arrangements for carers of children in a hospital. Carers will be entitled to their carer payment and allowance while the child is in hospital. This package of changes will create some ease for families who are, I have to say, in absolutely desperate circumstances. I am very pleased to be here to add my support to this bill.

In October 2008, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released data that there are 2.5 million Australians who report caring for someone at home because of a disability or old age. Of this 2.5 million, many are combining their caring responsibilities with raising children. When we look at the rate of people who receive a carer payment or a carer allowance it is well below that 2.5 million figure reported in the ABS statistics. At the moment, there are around 7,000 current recipients of carer payment (child) but with the changes it is estimated that an additional 19,000 payments of this kind will be delivered to carers.

This bill is working to ensure that the hard work of all carers is recognised. With a focus on the level of care provided, those requiring this financial assistance the most will now be eligible to receive payments. The level of care aspect will highlight functional ability, behaviour and special care needs rather than stringent technical, medical criteria that have seen many families in absolute desperate circumstances unable to access the carer payment under the previous system. A medical diagnosis does not always reflect what is involved in each particular situation. That is why we have made these changes, to accommodate for situations that do not fit the standard mould. The people benefiting from these changes are people who cannot work and who cannot earn an income to support their family because of their caring role.

These are families who are challenged by the additional needs of disability, medical conditions and illness and who need this extra assistance to help cope with the financial and emotional strain they are faced with. These changes are for people who spend their lives caring for others, often under difficult and unpredictable circumstances. Carer payments are a safety net for these families and these children with a profound disability or medical condition. Their parents, families and carers cannot go out and seek secure paid employment to support them; they are at home caring for them.

The new assessment, established through a legislative instrument entitled the Disability Care Load Assessment (Child), will improve the overall efficiency and effectiveness of assessments. This will occur particularly in complex cases where there are multiple carers for a care receiver and where there is care required for an adult with a disability at the same time as for a child with a disability.

We know that many carers are doing it tough and that is why Labor have introduced a number of measures under this budget and the previous budget to assist carers. This amending legislation will address the difficulties faced by many families to meet the day-to-day needs of caring for a child with a profound disability or a medical condition. Basing the eligibility criteria for caring for a child on the level of care provided will result in a fairer assessment of the role that a carer possesses and demonstrates. The role of caring for a child with a profound disability or a medical condition is one that requires great strength. The last thing that many parents need is to have to argue their case, when it is absolutely bleedingly obvious why they should be receiving a carer payment, when they should be spending all their energy and time and, in fact, are not only expending all their energy and time in caring for their child but also trying to access—and at times very difficult to access—much-needed disability services. With the introduction of this bill we will help carers and their families to overcome the extra challenges they are faced with, not to mention applauding them for their effort and support.

Carer payments being granted on a short-term or episodic basis will acknowledge illnesses, such as cancer that is non-terminal or unpredictable, brain injury and mental health conditions. Mental health is an issue that is clearly evident in Australia and must be more fully integrated into our social security system. It affects more and more people in our country every day. With this bill we are recognising that mental health conditions are serious and must be incorporated into the welfare system. This amending legislation will also take into consideration severe circumstances which are not necessarily long term but which profoundly affect a family.

I have had the privilege of speaking to carers and carers groups across my electorate and they have shared their personal experiences with me. In fact, I will be addressing a new carers group established in the town of Creswick next week and, in advance, can I congratulate Mary Loyer on what is a terrific initiative in her local community, where she has seen a need for carers to not only join together to support each other but also provide much needed advocacy for services and access to services in their local area.

Carers really are amazing people and selflessly spend their days supporting others. This government recognises this. That is why I am here to offer my support for this bill and I urge those members opposite to do the same. The Rudd government knows how important this amending legislation is to the families it will affect, and we cannot continue to watch them struggle the way that they are. It is often a very desperate struggle. I commend this bill to the House.

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