Mike Symon (Deakin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I speak in support of the Social Security and Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Weekly Payments) Bill 2010. This bill enables weekly payments to be made to a class of persons who receive social security periodic payments, family tax benefit or the baby bonus. It is aimed at those people who are assessed as being vulnerable, such as those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Historically, most welfare and family assistance payments have been made in Australia on a fortnightly cycle. This has been sufficient for most but not all recipients. In particular, some people suffering disadvantage due to homelessness, mental health issues, alcohol or substance abuse conditions are unable to organise a budget—not only over a fortnightly period but sometimes over any period at all. Many of these vulnerable people may spend their entire fortnightly payment in only a few days or, as circumstances have been related to me, in one day. The knock-on effect is that food and shelter may then be unaffordable for the remaining days of the fortnight, leading to health and accommodation problems for those affected and their families.

There have been trials of weekly payments for welfare recipients in the past which, by published accounts, have been quite successful. As the member for Shortland mentioned only a few minutes ago, the first of these trials were started back in 2001 in Alice Springs town camps. Although that trial ran through until 2003, it was not stand-alone; there was a broader package that went with it of assistance for people in those town camps, including culturally sensitive banking and financial services. That trial was funded by the then Department of Family and Community Services, and it was intended to address the problems associated with the feast and famine cycle that had accompanied fortnightly payments for some recipients. A report on the trial, titled Chasing the money story: an evaluation of the Tangentyere bank pilot project and its relevance to Indigenous communities in Central Australia, was undertaken by Siobhan McDonnell, a former visiting fellow at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research. This report was generally supportive of the use of weekly payments but also noted some problems with the implementation.

These problems included problems with Centrelink putting the weekly payment system in place and people choosing to leave the trial and revert to fortnightly payments, as weekly payments were sometimes insufficient to allow them to make purchases of large or highly priced items. However, the report found the weekly payments were helpful to some people, especially if additional services were provided as well and that they were worth making more widely available. In particular, though, the report found that if weekly payments were to be successful then they should be of a voluntary nature. A broader trial was then undertaken in 2005, again by the then Department of Family and Community Services. It ran through until 2006. This trial provided for the option of weekly payments to disadvantaged welfare recipients at 69 Centrelink customer service centres, with the majority of those being in South Australia and Western Australia. Around 1,700 recipients signed up for involvement in this larger trial, with most of them being paid a disability support pension and suffering from some form of mental illness. This trial also offered access to other support services to assist in stabilising clients’ circumstances so was not limited to weekly payments as a form of assistance.

The then President of the National Welfare Rights Network, Michael Raper, was reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on 7 April 2006 as saying that as a result of the weekly payments trial:

… very vulnerable clients have been able to turn their lives around with improved health and personal outcomes, more stable accommodation and reduced costs in terms of demands on the health and legal systems.

Given the reported success of the trial, Michael Raper was ‘at a loss as to why it was being wound up’. As I understand it, the trial was only undertaken on a limited basis, mainly due to legislative restrictions at the time. Therefore, this bill before the House provides for vulnerable income support recipients to receive weekly payments through two part payments in respect of their 14-day instalment period, thus fixing up the legislative problems of the previous trial. The effect is to treat the two part payments as though they were a single payment being paid at the end of the fortnightly instalment period.

In December 2008, the Rudd government released the homelessness white paper titled The road home: a national approach to reducing homelessness. The intent of the white paper is to provide for a national plan of action on homelessness for the years leading up to 2020. Three strategies were identified in the report to tackle homelessness: a focus on early intervention in the provision of homelessness services; a need for increased responsiveness to and connectivity between homelessness services to achieve better outcomes in relation to sustainable housing whilst improving economic and social participation and reducing the level of homelessness; and moving homeless people quickly out of crisis accommodation and into stable housing along with the necessary support to ensure that homelessness does not become recurrent. Contained within the first strategy was a recommendation for the weekly payment of income support. Weekly payments for vulnerable people will be voluntary under this bill, and Centrelink will be able to flag likely claimants who may need this support.

Homelessness can happen to virtually anyone due to an unexpected change of circumstances. It happens right across society, and in many cases it does not matter which suburb you live in or your family circumstances. The census in 2006 revealed that 105,000 people were homeless on census night. A breakdown of the percentages showed 56 per cent were male; 21 per cent were between the ages of 12 and 18; 12 per cent were under the age of 12; 23 per cent were staying in boarding houses; 45 per cent were staying with friends and relatives; 16 per cent were sleeping rough; and 14 per cent were staying in accommodation provided by the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program. Of course, what the census did not include was the people who were not in the census, and I do not know how many people that is—probably no-one really does know the real figure. What I do know is that it is addition to that 105,000 that were actually recorded in the census. Nearly half of the 105,000 Australians who are homeless on a given night are under the age of 25, and more than 12,000 are children. As the white paper explained, homelessness can affect children, families and older people just as insidiously as single people who are in difficulty for whatever reason. Our Indigenous population is affected out of proportion to their numbers, and those with mental illness are often among the homeless, especially following the deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill in the 1980s.

The Rudd Labor government has already demonstrated commitment about how serious it is in dealing with the issue of homelessness with measures that provide an extra $1.1 billion to boost services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and by increasing spending on homeless services by 55 per cent. There are measures such as an additional 80,000 social and affordable homes to the national housing stock, with 30,000 through the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan and another 50,000 through the National Rental Affordability Scheme. Also, there is the investment of around $80 million in emergency relief and financial counselling services.

In recent weeks we have seen the announcement of funding for both emergency relief and financial counselling in my electorate of Deakin, and I am happy to commend the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, for taking these vital measures to address these problems not only in Deakin but right across the country. Deakin covers the eastern suburbs in Melbourne, and some people have the perception that all is fine in what look like nice settled, stable suburbs. But I can certainly tell the House that we have a high incidence of homelessness in those suburbs.

Sometimes it is hidden away, but you do not have to go very far to find evidence of it. You can go down to any of the local welfare services and they can tell you how many people on a daily basis they are dealing with and, even worse, how many people they have to turn away because they do not have the accommodation: it is not there. The Rudd Labor government is funding 41 specialist homelessness projects across our housing programs to provide more than 1,680 new units of accommodation.

Centrelink also provides specialist support for homeless people; income support for those who are vulnerable, disadvantaged and socially excluded; and an indicator in its systems to identify homeless clients or clients who are at risk of homelessness. There is also the network of community engagement officers to work with NGOs like drug and alcohol rehab services, mental health services, hostels, boarding houses, refuges and drop-in centres. Centrelink also provides counselling, access to Centrepay and other support programs, and referral to community services if required. I have two Centrelink offices that service my electorate. They are both staffed with wonderful people who really go out of their way to assist those who come in their doors. Sometimes I wonder how they manage to do it all in one day; they really do get through a lot of work. They do a great job out there, but local issues mean that they are often overwhelmed as well. It is a big issue that goes right across the country.

I also note that the provision of weekly payments has been welcomed by Clare Martin, CEO of ACOSS, who said:

ACOSS welcomes this move by the Government which will help severely disadvantaged people access their payments on a weekly, rather than fortnightly, basis …

…            …            …

Homeless people in particular can struggle to maintain a budget and often operate on a day-to-day basis rather than in fortnightly cycles. Giving people a choice to receive payments weekly will empower them to take control of their finances, minimise hardship and prevent people from slipping into homelessness.

This proposal has also received support from Homelessness Australia, the national peak body working to prevent and respond to homelessness in Australia.

The changes implemented in this bill are small for most of us, but they are very necessary and worthwhile measures that seek to reduce homelessness, and for those who are in that position these changes are not small; I suspect they will be rather large. As the white paper states:

Investing in services to prevent and reduce homelessness delivers benefits not only to those vulnerable to homelessness but also to the entire community.

I commend this bill to the House.

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