Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

As I was saying earlier today, the coalition requires a firm but fair system to ensure that those in receipt of income support who can work have a responsibility to look for work and contribute back to the society that supports them. In addition to this they need to recognise that welfare is a temporary safety net and not a lifestyle choice—a hand up, not a handout.

On the other hand, in 2008 the Rudd Labor government watered down mutual obligation, introducing their no show, no pay compliance model, which saw job seekers docked a day's welfare payment for failing to attend interviews. The department and the minister were writing to providers asking them to be more lenient on those who breached the rules. Since then, the coalition has advocated for more stringent and appropriate compliance mechanisms as Labor's no show, no pay compliance model has been a failure. It is clear that there was neither a real financial disincentive for job seekers to comply with their activity test requirements, nor an enforced administration of this scheme.

This current Labor government has also failed job seekers by increasing the amount of time a job seeker spends out of work and unengaged in activities like Work for the Dole. This further increases their separation from the workforce as they are not engaging in job-like activities and are unable to get into a routine. Let me remind members of this House that, as was the case with border protection, the Howard government had a proven formula for Work for the Dole. New figures reveal the coalition's Work for the Dole program is being killed off under this federal Labor government, with 3,000 participants slashed from the scheme in the last eight months of 2010. Since 2007, when the Labor government started withering away Work for the Dole, they have increased long-term unemployment under their passive welfare model, where people are required to be unemployed for 12 months or more before this Labor government will fund a work experience activity. Evidence also suggests that the longer someone is out of the workforce it becomes less likely that they will work again. Now the Gillard Labor government are looking at slowly bringing back past Liberal government policies. The coalition has strongly advocated that Work for the Dole should become mandatory for people under 50 who have been receiving unemployment benefits for more than six months.

The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Job Seeker Compliance) Bill has a number of key points which should be noted. Firstly, it seeks to introduce tougher compliance measures for job seekers who have activity test requirements. Secondly, it will suspend income support payments for job seekers who fail to attend an appointment or activity like Work for the Dole without a reasonable excuse given in advance. When the job seeker does attend a rescheduled appointment their payment will be reinstated with back pay. Where the job seeker fails to attend the rescheduled meeting and fails to provide an adequate excuse then payment will be suspended until they do attend an appointment. No back pay will be payable for this period. Thirdly, reasonable excuse provisions will also be tightened, so that even if a job seeker has a reasonable excuse for not attending an appointment or activity on the day it will not be accepted if they could have given advance notice that they could not attend and failed to do so.

I note that there have been some concerns received on this bill from various community groups outside my electorate. These include that this legislation is too punitive and that it fails to clarify the circumstances in which job seekers will not be required to give prior notice of their absence. The coalition is satisfied that the wording of the legislation is such that if a job seeker does have a valid reason for missing an appointment and was not in a position to advise the provider beforehand then their payment will be immediately reinstated. Like the coalition, the people of my electorate are supportive of Work for the Dole and mutual obligation. In Solomon, as in many other electorates around the nation, there are a range of community projects where unemployed people can contribute back to the society that supports them.

In conclusion, I would like to reiterate the support of the coalition for this bill. I hope that these reforms will do as intended and that all job seekers will benefit from moving from welfare to work. My only concern is to ensure that the administration of these reforms is carefully implemented so as to not to bring an additional burden to the already stretched Centrelink staff.

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