Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a pleasure to follow the member for Gippsland, who has made a very thoughtful contribution today. He has obviously thought long and hard about the effects of unemployment in his community. It is not often that I get up following the member for Gippsland and say that I agree with most of the sentiments he has expressed, but I do today. He has outlined well the issues about the importance of personal responsibility in looking for jobs, but he has also emphasised the need for opportunities for people to get the proper education and have access to jobs—particularly in relation to Indigenous Australians. The important issues of Aboriginal health and life expectancy need to be looked after.

The approach on employment that the member for Gippsland has outlined is the approach the Australian Labor Party has adopted. I look forward to the member for Gippsland actually supporting the budget that the Treasurer brought down last night, because if ever there were a budget focused on jobs, health and education, it was the one last night. That is clearly the flip side to implementing welfare system measures relating to obligations and personal responsibility, which this bill is about. So I am looking forward to seeing the member for Gippsland coming across to this side and supporting the budget in a wholehearted way, because I know he is very genuine person who expresses his views in this place in a very forthright manner, as he has today. Clearly he is supporting the Swan budget of last night.

The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Job Seeker Compliance) Bill 2011, which I am speaking in support of today, will allow for immediate suspension of a job seeker's income support payment if the job seeker fails to attend an appointment with their employment service provider or attend an activity under certain circumstances and allows the penalty amount for a reconnection failure—applied when a job seeker fails to attend are a scheduled appointment—to be deducted from the job seeker's next payment. It tightens the reasonable excuse provisions to require job seekers to give prior notice if they are unable to attend an appointment or activity on a particular day. Both the current compliance framework and the new arrangements take into account the individual circumstances of job seekers in rural and regional areas—which both the member for Gippsland and I are—and of course this is very important. Allowances are made for transport or communication difficulties which may impact on job seeker's ability to meet their participation requirements or where it may not be possible to arrange a new appointment with an employment service provider in the next two business days.

The bill will introduce suspension of payment for job seekers following an initial failure to attend an appointment or, in some circumstances, an activity such as training. If the job seeker then agrees to re-engage as required, payment will be restored with full back-payment. It is a measure which has the stick there but does not have the punitive nature of penalising the job seeker in the long term. Its aim is to have them reconnected with the system so that they can get the assistance they need. If the job seeker then fails to re-engage, payment will again be suspended pending agreement to re-engage, but if they do not have a reasonable excuse they will lose payment for each day from their second missed appointment until they do attend a rescheduled appointment. This penalty will be deducted from their very next payment, rather than from their second next payment as is required under the current legislation.

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 of their inability to attend but failed to do so. This is important in relation to the type of behaviour one would expect if a job seeker were in employment. We should not be setting lower standards for a job seeker than we would expect from an employee. This starts to match up those obligations.

Job seekers with vulnerability indicators on their Centrelink record—such as those who are homeless or who have a mental illness—will not have their payment immediately suspended following the first non-attendance, although they will continue to be subject to the other arrangements I have already outlined.

This bill delivers on the government's election commitment to introduce tighter rules for job seekers. Available data supports the need for some tightening of the system. After some improvement immediately following the introduction of the current compliance framework in July 2009, attendance rates at provider appointments fell during 2009-10.

Suspension of payment provides a strong immediate incentive for job seekers who miss appointments to re-engage quickly. When a job seeker's payment is suspended following a missed appointment, they get all their money back once they do what is required of them. This is an effective way of encouraging compliance without taking the punitive approach of immediately applying a penalty that the job seeker cannot get back.

The Disney report into job seeker compliance, released in September 2010, recommended that the government consider introducing payment suspensions if the attendance rate at provider appointments did not significantly improve within 12 months or so. Although the tougher rules measure was announced before the report was released, recent appointment attendance data suggests that this pre-emptive approach is justified.

Just today the House Standing Committee on Education and Employment tabled its advisory report on this bill. The committee's chair, the member for Kingston, has said in the report that the importance of fostering and enhancing employment participation cannot be overstated. The member for Kingston also said:

The benefits of employment stretch far beyond the receipt of a pay packet. Employment participation brings not only economic security, but also dignity, purpose, and direction. A central element of fostering employment participation is encouraging job seekers to communicate and interact with employment service providers through attendance at appointments. The bill seeks to encourage job seekers to do this.

Specifically, the committee recommended that a plain English redrafting of the changes proposed by the bill be produced to combat the existing complexity of the social security system and ensure that job seekers fully understand their obligations under the proposed changes.

The committee also recommended that the word 'special' be removed from the proposed reasonable excuse provision in the bill in order to eliminate an unnecessary layer of complexity and ensure equitable and clear implementation of the measures proposed by the bill. Other areas of interest highlighted by the committee include the development of consistent guidance and training material for front-line staff; the provision of comprehensive training to front-line staff; the collection of data on why job seekers miss appointments without a reasonable excuse and the undertaking of a review of the impact of the measures proposed by the bill; the provision of additional training and guidance to front-line staff in relation to vulnerable job seekers; and, the monitoring of possible increased workloads for front-line staff.

The amendments in this bill will enhance the current job seeker compliance framework by providing additional incentives for job seekers to engage with their employment services providers and to participate fully in activities designed to improve their employment prospects. Immediate suspension of payment, either with full back payment on compliance or with resumption of payment upon compliance, is consistent with the government's broad approach to job seeker compliance, which focuses on early intervention and the use of immediate corrective action to keep job seekers on the right path. The amendments should simplify the system for job seekers in that the consequences of not attending appointments and activities will be clearer and more immediate. These amendments are not intended to increase penalty numbers per se. The principle that no job seeker should actually lose payment without warning or a second chance to comply will remain in place.

Employment services providers will still have the discretion not to initiate compliance action in most circumstances and will still be able to use the contact request arrangements when they want Centrelink to contact a job seeker for them without taking compliance action.

I was very pleased to hear in last night's budget that the Wyong local government area which takes up most of my electorate on the New South Wales Central Coast has been chosen for extra help in getting young parents and families skilled up and educated so they can enter the workforce. This is the other side of getting people into jobs which the member for Gippsland highlighted in relation to saying that there needs to be opportunities for jobs and there needs to be education. The Wyong local government area has been chosen from just 10 areas around Australia to receive a $304 million boost in the budget for this help. The comprehensive package recognises the skills and employment disadvantages of the area and has been specifically designed to help boost job rate numbers in Wyong shire.

Again, I go back to the contribution of the member for Gippsland when he said that the best solutions in relation to jobs are local. The announcement last night in the budget in relation to these 10 areas—the 10 worst-hit areas in relation to employment—was that local solutions were going to be developed with this money. We are looking forward to these local solutions in the Wyong shire. I am sure, as I mentioned earlier, that when the appropriation documents and all the measures of the budget come into this House we will welcome the member for Gippsland over to this side to vote in support of those documents, given the statements that he made in his contribution to this debate.

The comprehensive package that was announced last night recognises the skills and employment disadvantage of the area that I represent and it is designed to boost jobs in that area. This is great news for my area, which has long been disadvantaged with low education and skill levels and has previously missed out on the sort of help needed to get us on par with many other regions in Australia in relation to employment.

We know that many teenage parents leave school early without year 12 qualifications and end up as long-term welfare recipients, with negative consequences for them, their children and their families. The new package announced in the budget will help teenage parents in Wyong get a better job so that they can provide for their children as they grow older. From 1 January 2012, teenage parents in the Wyong LGA who have not finished year 12 or equivalent and are receiving the government's parenting payment will need to meet an individually crafted participation plan.

But this is not just about toughening up the rules for job seekers; they will also be given support to help them meet their extra responsibilities and milestones. In Wyong, support for teenage parents will include access to quality child care while they are studying or training, with close to 100 per cent of their childcare costs covered. They will also receive support from Youth Connections services to help them enrol in and attend school, TAFE or other training. And teens will also be supported with their parenting responsibilities through play groups, parenting education classes, early learning programs and mentoring.

This package supports young parents to engage their children in early education, and development opportunities to gain skills and education for themselves. It enables teenage parents to position themselves to enter the labour market once their youngest child is aged six, when participation requirements mean they need to commence at least part-time work. The measures support families who are at risk of disadvantage by ensuring they will have access to the services they need to fulfil their goals. The measures achieve this in a way that recognises the autonomy of parents and their responsibility to provide for their children. The $304 million package provides for several initiatives across the 10 places and of course includes the Wyong LGA.

The budget last night and this legislation here today are both part of a government strategy that looks at making sure that individuals take responsibility for their own actions in terms of participating. The changes to this bill that we are talking about today but also the measures that were announced in the budget last night look at making sure they have the absolutely essential opportunities, support, mentoring and ability to gain skills that mean they will be able to go into gainful employment. This bill also places an emphasis on responsibility for attendance.

Getting Australians into the workforce is a matter of personal dignity for those who are out of work at the moment. It is an opportunity for them and their families to be provided for and an opportunity for this country. With 4.9 per cent unemployment at the moment and a tightening labour market, we need increased participation rates. So everyone wins in making sure we get people out of the dole queues and into employment. That is why the measures that this government has introduced both in this bill and also, most importantly, through the budget last night are ones that anyone in this place who is interested in getting people back into employment should be supporting. So I look forward to the support of both sides for this bill but, as importantly, I look forward to the support of everyone in this parliament for the measures announced last night by the Treasurer to make sure that we help Australians get back into the workforce and get jobs in which they can truly participate in this economy. I commend this bill to the House.

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