Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Job Seeker Compliance) Bill 2011. The task of welfare reform and management is obviously not an easy one; however, it is one of the very important tasks and activities of this parliament. Welfare and participation payments are fundamental in ensuring that an appropriate social safety net exists in this country. It is the Australian Labor Party that has always recognised the great need for appropriate welfare in our society. It is the Australian Labor Party that has always recognised the need for appropriate participation payments in our society. In representing my electorate of Robertson, I am mindful that my work in this place should have a positive, practical impact on not only the lives of those in my electorate but all Australians.

The practical considerations of any changes to legislation should be the dominant purpose for the welfare reform that we are undertaking—practical considerations such as what benefits the Australian community the most, and what is most beneficial for the long-term economic progress of the nation. This bill seeks to provide sensible reform to job seeker compliance. The role of participation payments is to provide welfare for the duration that a person is seeking employment until they are able to attain it. Indeed, under the Australian social security system, job seekers are required to actively look for employment when they receive participation payments.

This bill delivers on an election commitment that was part of the 'Modernising Australia's welfare system' package that was announced on 11 August 2011. The central component of this bill is the incentive it provides job seekers when they are receiving participation payments. The Social Security Administration Act 1999 will be amended to provide for the suspension of a job seeker's income support payment if they fail to attend an appointment or engage in an activity such as training. This provision has the practical effect of providing an incentive for job seekers to attend appointments when required and to participate in activities that will benefit their future prospects of employment.

Under the amendments, the suspension of income support payment will occur after the reporting of an initial failure to attend an appointment without a reasonable excuse, or a failure to participate in training actives without a reasonable excuse. Importantly, full income support payments will be restored when the job seeker re-engages with appointments and training requirements. This provides an important incentive for job seekers to comply with the requirements set down in the act. It is also important that these requirements are complied with not just for the benefit of the national economy and the wise expenditure of funds on welfare payments but also for the financial, social and emotional health of job seekers. Going out each day to look for work and being knocked back can, I think, sometimes be a very disheartening experience. In the evidence that we heard on this matter during the education and employment inquiry were stories of how critical it was for job seekers to have the engagement with service providers who were able to assist them to continue that journey, to identify areas that they might need training in and to share the experience of sometimes failure in achieving the jobs that they were after. It is vital that they reconnect and continue to share that journey towards full employment, which is so important for all Australians. There is so much to be said for the dignity of work, not just because of the freedom that it gives us and the money that we earn from it and then spend in our own particular way but also because of the connection it gives us with other human beings on a daily basis. People notice when we show up. People notice when we might not be there. Opportunities for care are provided in the workplace in very significant ways. It is not fair that some Australians should miss out on that. The capacity for service providers in this field to help people re-engage should not be underestimated, and that is why these appointments can be really critical in helping people succeed.

Recently, I was involved in an apprentice drive by the Central Coast Group Training, and I wrote to over 500 small businesses in the seat of Robertson about it. I am pleased to report that the group training scheme reached its target of employing 30 apprentices and trainees within 30 days—in fact, it exceeded its target. The vast majority of businesses to which I wrote were small businesses. An example of one small business that did employ a trainee from the apprentice drive was Ozone Express Laundrette. I have seen many generations of young people from the Central Coast transition through our vocational education and training system into small business. I can say without hesitation that I am passionate about youth employment in my region. Group training schemes and apprenticeships are vital in reducing the level of youth unemployment. But this of itself is not effective unless tied to the opportunities that can be provided by employment providers who assist particularly young people in getting into work. We need an appropriate system of compliance to encourage job seekers to go out and get on with looking for work.

The suspension of payments provides the much needed incentive for some job seekers to re-engage quickly with their employment service provider and then when they do what is required they will get paid. In a way, this sort of communication with an employment service provider is an opportunity to practise such skills—for instance, if one of the children is sick or if you are unwell. This is an opportunity for people who might have been out of employment for a long time to practise the skills of managing their life to a point where they are able to make a phone call in advance and connect back in. For people who take that for granted it seems a small skill, but for people who lose agency and a sense of capacity when they have had a few knock-backs, this skill can be something that can fall off. So, obviously, this legislation is going to assist in encouraging people to undertake those common courtesies that are part of participating in a workplace.

This bill also reforms the suspension of payments when job seekers continue to fail to comply with job seekers' requirements. If a job seeker does fail to re-engage, their payment will be suspended pending an agreement to re-engage and they will lose payment for each day after this missed appointment. The payment will only be resumed after they attend a scheduled reappointment. This bill provides, through this mechanism, for an early intervention system in the provision of participation payments and compliance with the requirements of engagement in seeking work and attending appointments. The suspension of payment as a result of the initial failure to attend an appointment or engage with training can enable problems related to workplace participation to be addressed early. Additionally, I firmly believe that it is most appropriate to provide the incentive for actively looking for employment early in the job search period. This enables issues in regards to workplace participation to be managed early. Whilst there must also be positive incentives in looking for work, penalties need to operate in regards to failing to comply with the requirements attached to the payment. The requirements that affect the provision of a participation payment must be clear and certain. Under this legislation, the consequences for not attending appointments and activities will be increased in clarity and immediacy and will have a much better effect in terms of helping people make the connection between missing the appointment and then losing their participation payment for that period of time.

These reforms to the provision of income support to job seekers cannot be taken lightly. It is very important to recognise that, if a person has incurred the penalty of a suspended payment for an initial failure to attend an appointment, payment will be restored with full back payment once the re-engagement occurs. But this legislation does tighten the provisions that enable a reasonable excuse to be provided. The most important change in this regard is that an excuse is not reasonable if a job seeker could have given advance notice but failed to do so.

I understand that the incentives that are provided under this legislation only partly address concerns relating to unemployment and workplace participation. The most important means of ensuring that job seekers can find employment is the provision of a strong economy. We saw in the budget last night the platform for ensuring that Australians get work and keep work and that we grow job opportunities in this country. Indeed, it was this government that so successfully stimulated the economy during the global financial crisis and helped maintain our low level of unemployment. It is this government that continues to work to ensure that unemployment remains low and that job seekers can transition into employment.

Whilst we do this, we also need to ensure that our social security services are modernised and provide the right incentives to people. As stated, another component of our response to unemployment, especially youth unemployment, is to provide access to training. In this regard, welfare can provide a means to a hand up rather than merely a hand-out. The Australian government is well assisted by organisations such as group training schemes in addition to job training networks that assist in the provision of training to job seekers. In last night's budget we saw a very practical and significant commitment to that. Additionally, we must also acknowledge the good and effective work done by non-government organisations who participate in this field. Mission Australia and the Salvation Army are just two that spring to mind in terms of working to provide employment opportunities for job seekers and working to help job seekers re-form their identity and recover their hopes for participation and the freedom that work offers. These organisations play a great complementary role to the work of government and they engage very effectively with our community and with people who need a bit of a hand every now and then.

This legislation is effective in modernising our welfare system. It does provide incentives where they are needed and it does provide encouragement to stay within the boundaries of appropriate behaviours that would be replicated in the workplace. Employment participation is fundamental if we wish our economy to be strong and if we want to have a strong society. This is a practical reform. It is not based on ideological rhetoric. It is based on a practical consideration of the needs of our system of social security. It is practically engaging and it will be practically applicable to ensure that income support payments are appropriately provided. I believe this legislation will contribute to the generation of a culture in which welfare is not seen as a hand-out but as a hand up. It will certainly encourage the young and the old and the people in between who have been disconnected from the workplace into further engagement with their service provider for the opportunity of jobs that will produce. I commend the legislation to the House.

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