Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Farm Household Support Amendment Bill 2017. The farm household allowance was introduced back in 2014 in response to the national review of drought policy. In essence, it provides a payment for farmers in very difficult times. In terms of its value, it is a payment which is the equivalent of a Newstart payment. It can apply for up to three years, and it is there for farmers to help them deal with unforeseen events such as a drought or a natural disaster so they can get through it and, hopefully, get back on their feet.

At the moment, about 4,780 farmers are receiving the farm household allowance. Overall, the allowance aims to get them through that difficult time till they can get back on their feet—perhaps the drought breaks; perhaps the harvest comes back in—and they no longer need that assistance. The allowance itself is governed by policy from the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. Clearly, the Deputy Prime Minister is in charge of that policy, but it is administered by my department, the Department of Human Services. Consequently, there is an interaction between the two departments.

This bill is the Deputy Prime Minister's bill and it deals with some policy issues. I would like to just touch on those but also touch on some of the administrative matters, some of which the shadow minister has raised herself. We have been hearing some of the frustrations that farmers have been experiencing for some time in relation to getting fast access to the farm household allowance. Late last year, there were a number of round tables with farmers and with other stakeholders across Victoria to understand more deeply exactly what their concerns were and to help us identify how we might be able to deliver these payments more expediently, more efficiently and more quickly for the farmers in need. Those workshops were led by Senator Bridget McKenzie, and I certainly commend the work that she did. They also involved very good work from the member for Corangamite, Sarah Henderson, as well as the member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, amongst other members who have taken a very strong interest in this matter. Officials from both my department and the Department of Agriculture attended those series of round tables.

Throughout those round tables, we got some very frank feedback from people, and one of the more important pieces of feedback was the time that it took for the farm household allowance applications to be properly addressed and dealt with. Farmers do have more complex financial arrangements than many other people do. They have more complex asset structures—perhaps they have trusts or other arrangements—which sometimes mean that it does take more time to get that information together. But, nevertheless, on many occasions it was taking up to four months for a farmer's application to be properly assessed, for all the information to be provided and for it to be going backwards and forwards between my department and the farmer before their payment was provided to them. That, in some respects, goes against the whole spirit of what we were trying to achieve with this allowance, which is that we get money, cash support, to the farmer when they need it.

Consequently, off the back of those round tables, we have made two important decisions. The first important decision, which was made by the Deputy Prime Minister, was to make some policy changes, and that is what this bill represents. There are very important policy changes contained in this bill. Perhaps, most importantly, farm household recipients will no longer be required to serve the ordinary waiting period or face the liquid assets waiting period once their payment has been granted. This means they will be able to get their payment straightaway, as soon as the farm household allowance has been granted. There are also some changes to the water assets test. The allowable threshold for non-farm assets is currently $1.1 million, and that threshold is now going to be $2.5 million. These are some of the important measures contained within this bill, which of course we fully support.

I would like to touch on some of the administrative changes which we have also made, taking into account the feedback that we received from those round tables and from the farmers directly. We have made some very significant administrative changes to the way the farm household allowance is processed. We currently have a trial in place. That trial applies across the country and to every single new application for farm household allowance. In essence, the aim of that trial is to reduce the time that it takes to process the farm household allowance from what has been taking up to four months to 28 days for the more simple cases and within six weeks for the more complex ones. So this is quite a stark change in terms of the time frame from being something like four months on many occasions to being four weeks for the more simple cases and six weeks for the more complex cases. That trial is underway. So far it seems to be on track, but we will obviously carefully monitor the results of that trial. We will learn from it. And if it proves to be successful then, of course, that trial will continue and become a mainstream effort.

In essence, the pilot includes a number of significant changes to enable us to achieve those targets. First of all, we have established a new dedicated farm household allowance team to deliver the program from the first inquiry through to the final payment. Essentially what that means is that the farmer will often have an individual person whom they are dealing with, whom they can constantly deal with. There will be much more telephone communication between that individual customer service officer and the farmer. On most occasions, it will be with exactly the same person. If it cannot be with exactly the same person then there will be a warm handover to another case officer so that the farmer does not have to repeat the same story, time and time again. That is going to be absolutely critical. Also, there is going to be significantly increased outbound telephone contact with the applicant to assist them with each step of the process.

As I said, farmers often have very complex financial arrangements. In the past, the time delays have been due to information having to go backwards and forwards between the farmer and the department. The farmer would provide information and if that information was not correct then a letter might be sent out to say, 'You haven't provided all the information.' Time would elapse to get that letter back, it would be reassessed and then a further letter might go out. This process will be expedited largely through having dedicated officers who will be connected with the farmer, who can jump on the phone and walk them through that, and therefore get the information more quickly.

The combination of the policy changes which were announced in this bill, in concert with the administrative changes, which I have been overseeing and are being piloted at the moment across the nation, mean that it should be a much better experience for the farmers. It means that the farmers should be able to get their emergency payments, which is what a farm household allowance is, quickly, expediently and when they need it, which is often when there is a crisis going on. I think those policy changes are good. They should be commended, and I hope we get bipartisan support for them. I think the administrative changes are also very good. I hope that we also get support from the opposition for those administrative changes.

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