Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Welfare Payment Integrity) Bill 2016. This bill seeks to amend the social security legislation in two ways.

The first is to introduce departure prohibition orders into social security legislation, so that orders may be made preventing a person from leaving the country when they have outstanding social security debts and a repayment plan is not currently in place. These orders could be applied to debts incurred through social security, family assistance, paid parental leave or student assistance payments. Departure prohibition orders can already be applied for when people have child support debts.

A departure prohibition order may be applied where the person has one or more debts to the Commonwealth; there are not arrangements satisfactory to the secretary in place for those debts to be wholly paid; and the secretary believes on reasonable grounds that it is desirable to make the order to ensure the person does not leave Australia for a foreign country without having wholly paid the debt or there being arrangements in place satisfactory to the secretary for the debt to be repaid.

Before making an order, the secretary must have regard to certain matters. Firstly, the person's capacity to pay the debt; secondly, whether any debt recovery action has been taken and the outcome of that action; thirdly, the length of time the debt has remained unpaid; and fourthly, any other matters the secretary considers appropriate. Departure prohibition orders may only be made when the secretary believes it is appropriate to do so.

The second amendment in this bill seeks to abolish the six-year limitation on debt recovery currently in place for social security, family assistance and paid parental leave debts. These amendments will mean that relevant methods of debt recovery, including deductions from payment, legal proceedings and garnishee arrangements, can commence at any time.

The amendments proposed in this bill are due to commence on 1 July 2016 or the day after royal assent. The financial impacts of these changes are quite modest. A total cost of $29.5 million is expected from the overall measure. The measure is anticipated to achieve a net underlying cash balance saving of $157.8 million, reflecting the recovery of debts owed to the Commonwealth government.

Labor will not be opposing this bill in the House. However, a Senate committee is currently looking at the detail of this legislation and is due to report back to the parliament on 20 June 2016. Labor believes we need to carefully examine the implications of these changes and we believe a Senate committee is best placed to scrutinise the detail of the bill. As with many issues within the social security system, these changes are complex. It is therefore very important that the bill be given proper scrutiny to ensure that there are no adverse consequences, intended or unintended, for vulnerable Australians. Therefore Labor will reserve its final position until the Senate committee reports its findings.

However, I will put on the record today my concern about some of the language being used by the Turnbull government when it comes to people who rely on government support to get by. Labor believes that people who deliberately defraud the system should be investigated and required to repay the money. That is only fair. But far too often all we see from the Turnbull government is a lot of empty talk about welfare crackdowns and a nasty habit of demonising people who rely on social security.

I do not think that such an approach is helpful. I will say on behalf of many constituents in my electorate that they often come to me feeling very upset about headlines in the papers and comments that government ministers have made, and particularly upset that there is a lack of understanding, it seems, from those on the other side about the impact of their language and the way the government will often portray people who rely on social security. That is quite concerning and certainly not helpful. Indeed, I fear that it will further stigmatise Australians who are jobless and would love nothing more than to find a job. If the government listens, there are many, many people out there who are not just lining up to get social security, but who desperately want to get a job and are desperately looking for a job. In my electorate I hear reports over and over again of people who say that they want nothing more but feel very much locked out of the job market. We do not want to use language that further stigmatises these Australians, who want desperately nothing more than to get a job.

Labor believes that the best way to help Australians who are struggling is to assist them in finding a job—for people who do not have the skills or expertise to find a job, ensuring that they get the right skills and support to be prepared for those jobs; or for people with a disability, ensuring that they are supported in finding a job. Indeed, I speak to many people who have a disability and who want to work but unfortunately are not given that opportunity. That is why Labor believes in—and this will be Labor's approach if we win the next election—supporting those who do want to find a job and ensuring that they get the support they need.

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