Cathy O'Toole (Herbert, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Income management supports 25,033 vulnerable people in locations across Australia, including individuals referred by child protection authorities. A high proportion of income-managed participants are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This schedule amends the Social Security (Administration) Act to extend the completion date to 1 July 2019. This change will enable income management to continue in four Cape York Welfare Reform communities for a further two years, as well as Doomadgee.

The Family Responsibilities Commission, the FRC, which is established under Queensland government legislation, is a key part of the Cape York Welfare Reform. The Cape York Welfare Reform is an initiative of the Cape York Partnership, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation which has led a wide-ranging reform agenda in Cape York. In 2008 Aurukun, Coen, Hope Vale, Mossman Gorge signed up to the Cape York Welfare Reform project in partnership with the Cape York Institute, federal and Queensland governments. Doomadgee also signed up, although it is not formally part of the Cape York Welfare Reform partnership. The Coen Regional Aboriginal Corporation has said that:

Giving local people real power to hold other community members to account through the FRC gets our 100% support.

The Aurukun Shire Council has said: 'The FRC must stay strong for our people. In Aurukun, we have been down a hard road, but we need to keep on going to make more positive changes.'

The aim of income management was to end passive welfare, restore communal and family harmony and create more vibrant and prosperous communities. The trial focused on achieving gains in social responsibility, education, economic opportunity and home ownership. In the 2017-18 budget, the federal government announced that it will extend income management in all five locations for two years until 30 June 2019. This will allow for further progress towards positive change within local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

At this point, I must make it very clear that, whilst Labor supports this bill, it is imperative we acknowledge the absolute importance of proper consultation with local communities. Labor understands that walking alongside and working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in a respectful manner is the only approach that will deliver success in the implementation and rollout of programs of this nature. 'Do not do to us or for us without us' is a good motto to follow. Any legislation that impacts on income management in any jurisdiction must be driven and supported by the members of the local community. It would be fair to say that the vast majority of social security recipients are more than capable of managing their personal finances. However, where individual communities believe that income management is and can make a positive difference for the people in the community, we must work with that community in order to ensure the best possible outcomes. Labor's position on income management is very simple. We do not believe that it should be rolled out on a national scale as we do not believe that it should be imposed upon communities that do not want to participate.

I recently attended the Indigenous workers' conference held in Townsville, which commemorated the anniversary of the 1957 Palm Island strike, where seven very courageous man working on Palm Island led a strike against the appalling living conditions and the discriminatory treatment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on the island. This strike took place because the petition to the superintendent demanding improved wages, health services, housing and working conditions was ignored. Although poor conditions were a major cause of the strike, the trigger was the superintendent's decision to deport local Albie Geia, who had allegedly disobeyed an overseer. Geia refused to leave Palm Island, united the community and declared the strike on 10 June 1957.

The conference was open to the public to provide an opportunity to educate the broader community about the many challenges the people of Palm Island and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have endured over time and still face today. I joined the ACTU secretary, Sally McManus; mayor of Palm Island, Councillor Alf Lacey; and HESTA general manager of business development and policy, Mary Delahunty, on a panel where we discussed what needs to be done to progress community equity and employment into the future for Palm Island.

These men were never paid properly. They did not get sick leave. They did not get holiday pay. They did not have an opportunity to save for their retirement. These hardworking men did not have an inheritance to leave their children. They worked their whole lives with nothing to show for their labour. And, what is even worse, they were taken forcibly from their homeland. If supporting this bill opens the door to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities who wish to engage in an income management program that will mean that communities can build their capacity to achieve real employment opportunities, if it means that communities get an opportunity to build a prosperous future for all members, it is a good initiative. If it means that we will never see the opportunities for a strike like the 1957 strike on Palm Island to happen again, it is a good initiative.

What is very clear is that our first nation people are very tired of being told what to do and what is good for them. Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders are willing to work together with governments, organisations and departments on the challenges and barriers that their communities face each and every day. Labor has respected this request, and it was Labor that insisted a Senate inquiry be established that enabled the Senate to receive submissions from local stakeholders in the Cape York region. The shadow minister, the honourable Jenny Macklin, has spoken with all the mayors, and they are very supportive of this extension.

The Cape York Partnership's work is based on the principles set out in Noel Pearson's 2005 Cape York Agenda. The Cape York welfare reform agenda aims to support people in the communities of Aurukun, Coen, Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge to take responsibility for the wellbeing of their families and their community. The primary aim is to ensure that children are safe, fed and educated. The Family Responsibilities Commission was established under Queensland legislation in 2008. As the FRC submission to the inquiry sets out:

Local Commissioners are Elders or respected community members who encourage individuals appearing before the Commission to take the necessary steps to make lasting changes which will benefit their health, wellbeing, home and community life.

The commission commenced operation on 1 July 2008 and conferencing began on 12 August 2008, with the first sitting being held in Coen. The primary objective of the commission, as set out in the FRC Act, is to hold conferences with community members and to encourage individuals and families to engage in socially responsible standards of behaviour whilst promoting the interests, rights and wellbeing of children and other vulnerable persons living in the community. The commission may work with a community member who is a social security recipient living in an area prescribed by regulation as a welfare reform community if the person or their partner is in receipt of certain welfare payments. The FRC can direct part of an individual's income support payments to be managed by Centrelink to pay for the priority needs of that family. The percentage of payment income managed varies between 60, 75 and 90 per cent.

Since Cape York welfare reform began in July 2008, the four communities have seen improved school attendance, care and protection of children, and community safety. A 2012 evaluation of Cape York welfare reform found that progress has been made at the foundational level in stabilising social circumstances and fostering behavioural change, particularly in the areas of sending children to school, caring for children and increasing individual responsibility. I reiterate that the most recent evaluation of income management was in Cape York in 2012. A further evaluation is overdue and I urge the government to ensure that a full evaluation occurs within the period of the extension.

We thank the various local community groups for making submissions to the Senate inquiry at such very late notice. Those submissions have played a very important role in showing the community's support for the continuation of income management in Cape York. Extending income management for two years ensures continuity of support for vulnerable participants and will also allow the government time to work through future directions for welfare quarantining. The amendment is compatible with human rights. Income management will advance the protection of human rights by ensuring that income support payments are spent in the best interests of the welfare payment recipients and their dependants, as decided by them. Income management will be successful if it includes a focus on education at all levels within the community. Efforts must be made to ensure that jobs are made available in communities where regular fly in, fly out workers are delivering services, especially at the entry level. If organisations that deliver services in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities took an active role in developing a reconciliation action plan, purposeful roles would be identified for local community members. Developing a quality reconciliation action plan is a journey, and a journey that is best undertaken in consultation with the relevant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Employment is a human right and the dignity of work cannot be underestimated for any human being. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in communities must have hope like any other child—hope that they too can live a life of purpose, choice, meaning and citizenship.

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