Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

) ( ): I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises the importance of a generous social safety net;

(2) further recognises that it is essential that welfare is targeted to achieve better lifetime outcomes for recipients;

(3) welcomes the release of data that will help the Government to target interventions to Australians who need it most;

(4) congratulates the Government's Try, Test and Learn Fund, with $96.1 million allocated to it which will:

(a) bring together stakeholders, academics, the states and territories and any relevant parties in the non-government sector, to trial new policies and initiatives to help achieve better lifetime outcomes for target cohorts; and

(b) ensure new, bold and innovative ideas are trialled which will help to reduce long term and inter-generational welfare dependence; and

(5) looks forward to the first round of funding under the program which will improve lifetime outcomes and increase the self-reliance of young parents, young carers and young students.

I am pleased to be able to move this motion today in support of the government's approach to welfare. Thanks to the recent work of and the announcement from the Minister for Social Services, we have, for the first time, evidence of exactly what is happening to people in the welfare system. The Baseline Valuation Report contains crucial information about how people move in and out of the welfare system—information that is now being analysed so that we can work to genuinely improve people's lives.

While we are determined to secure Australia's future as a high-wage First World economy which includes a generous social safety net, we also recognise that it is important to divert the most vulnerable from a lifetime of welfare dependency. Like any responsible government, we want to be able to reduce the long-term costs of social security. At the moment they add up to around $160 billion a year. That represents around 80 per cent of all individual income tax raised in Australia that is going straight to welfare. Without further restraint, the welfare bill is expected to expand to $277 billion by 2026. One in every three Australians is receiving welfare payments. Of those not currently in the welfare system, 88 per cent are expected to receive some type of welfare payment throughout their life. Adding all that up, a PricewaterhouseCoopers report estimates we will face a total future lifetime welfare cost for the present Australian population of $4.8 trillion. This alone suggests we need change.

As the minister said in his recent speech to the National Press Club, with this new data system 'we can be provided with greater detail about small groups of people and use that data to test policy approaches to see whether they actually do contribute to full, purposeful and self-reliant lives.' As the minister went on to say: 'With all the information that's assembled and the will from this government to be able to use it, we do have a real chance to provide welfare assistance to individual Australians in a way that delivers outcomes. This won't be done by ideology or emotions or money alone but by assessing the long-term effects on the lives of the people we are trying to help.'

So what will this response look like? The government has set three goals for a new direction in welfare policy: firstly, identify those at risk of long-term welfare dependency and help them find employment; secondly, identify and reduce the risks of welfare reliance crossing generations; and, finally, as I have touched on before, ensure the long-term sustainability of the welfare system. With this framework in place, the government can better identify and assist those who have particularly poor long-term outcomes in the system. These can be broadly broken down into three groups: young carers, young parents and young students.

In relation to young parents, in 2015 there were 4,370 young parents aged 18 and below receiving parenting payments, of which 77 per cent were single parents. Reducing support to young parents is not going to help them, but we do need to provide young parents with support to develop and maintain skills that will allow them to find employment. In April, the government launched ParentsNext, and the Try, Test and Learn Fund will seek to expand and improve this approach. The $96.1 million Try, Test and Learn Fund is worth highlighting. It is a key component of the Priority Investment Approach, and it is an innovative, creative solution to a complex problem. The fund will provide a platform for various stakeholders, both government and non-government, to share bold ideas for new programs to divert at-risk groups, especially our young people, from a future of welfare dependency. A public call for proposals will take place by the end of the year.

There is also an important program for carers, which takes on added relevance this week because it is the start of National Carers Week across Australia. We have started the Young Carer Bursary Program, a $3.5 million investment aimed at improving the educational rates for young carers and reducing lifetime dependency on welfare.

Finally, young students who move directly from student payments to unemployment benefits and stay there for 12 months are especially susceptible to long-term welfare dependency. The Priority Investment Approach builds on the work that the government is already delivering, including jobactive, Transition to Work and, in particular, the Youth Jobs PaTH Program for young people.

The Turnbull government is a strong believer that the best form of welfare is a job. Nobody wants to see a person spend their life in the welfare system from a very young age. With this package, I do believe that the government has demonstrated a thorough, clear policy platform, and I commend the motion to the House.

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