Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2015. This bill introduces a range of minor 'housekeeping' amendments in the Social Services portfolio, all of which Labor supports. We all know that housekeeping amendments are required from time to time, and the amendments that we are discussing today are designed to correct technical errors and clarify intended policy by removing minor ambiguities and anomalies.

There is, I believe, nothing controversial in the bill. Indeed, it has no financial impacts. This bill will make a series of changes that I will now outline for the House. First, it will clarify that people serving an income maintenance period for a mainstream income support payment cannot access the special benefit. An income maintenance period is a period of time during which certain payments or certain leave payments—for example, termination payments or leave payments—are treated as ordinary income for certain social security payments, such as the Newstart allowance. This change can be reduced or waived if a person is in severe financial hardship because the person has incurred reasonable or unavoidable expenditure.

The special benefit is a payment for people in financial hardship due to circumstances beyond their control. This change will confirm the longstanding intent that it should not be paid to a person who is serving an income maintenance waiting period for a mainstream income support payment due to receiving a termination payment or leave payment.

Second, the bill will align time frames for meeting the family tax benefit reconciliation conditions and related amendments.

Third, the bill will alter student payment eligibility criteria so that the requirements for new apprentices can be determined by the minister in a legislative instrument. It will achieve this by amending the definition of 'new apprentice' in the Social Security Act to remove the requirement for a Commonwealth registration number and alters the requirements for that definition so it can be determined by the minister in a legislative instrument.

Fourth, this bill will confirm that students are only assessed against one course of education under the full-time study requirements of youth allowance and the qualifying study requirements of Austudy and not against more than one course of part-time study during a single study period.

Fifth, the bill will clarify the policy intention relating to a person's exemption from the Austudy payment assets test if their partner is receiving or has received a relevant pension, benefit, allowance or compensation or has received lump-sum compensation as an armed services widow or widower under the Military Rehabilitation Compensation Act 2004 in the past.

Sixth, the bill consolidates and removes inconsistencies and redundant provisions in relation to the indexation of the pharmaceutical allowance.

Seventh, the bill clarifies which components of Newstart allowance are taken into account under the allowable income limits for the health care card.

Eighth, the bill removes an administrative restriction in the family assistance delegation provisions.

Finally, this bill corrects cross-references and similar technical errors.

In supporting this bill, Labor of course continues to oppose some of the other social services legislation that the government is trying to get through the parliament. We oppose the government's attempts to cut family payments for 1.6 million families and three million children. We oppose their unfair cuts to paid parental leave, which will leave thousands of new parents worse off. We oppose their proposal to force young unemployed people to live on nothing for months at a time, with no support. We oppose the government's cuts to the pension and their proposal to force Australians to keep working until they are 70.

The government's record on supporting families, older people and vulnerable Australians is atrocious. Labor will continue to stand up for them and protect the fair go—because Labor always puts people first. However, when it comes to this particular bill, as I indicated earlier, Labor offers our support for the bill and the minor amendments that it will make.

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