Christian Porter (Pearce, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I thank all members for their contribution to the second reading stage of the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Payments for Carers) Bill 2018. Welfare is of course, as has been noted in this chamber many times, a massive area of taxpayer funded expenditure, presently representing about 35 per cent of the Australian government's total expenses. In the 2017-18 financial year, the government expected to spend $8.5 billion on payments for carers and that would include $5.4 billion on carer payment, $1.7 billion on carer allowance for those caring for an adult and almost $600 million for those caring for a child. Carers, as all of the speakers have acknowledged and detailed, play a crucial role and make significant contributions to those they care for and, in so doing, for the Australian community at large. The government is obviously therefore aware of the need to balance welfare spending with the provision of support services to ensure that both remain sustainable into the future.

This bill introduces an income test for carer allowance and the carer allowance (child) health care card only from 20 September 2018. Carer allowance is currently not subject to an income test, meaning that people who do not require financial assistance can nevertheless still be eligible for the payment. That fact differs from the majority of social security payments in Australia, which are income and asset tested in order to target the payments to the people most in need of the financial safety net. Introducing the income test for carer allowance is consistent with the government's overall priority and policies of strengthening the coherence and sustainability of the welfare system and it allows funding to be directed to new services for carers without growing existing welfare expenditure. So setting a generous $250,000 income threshold targets financial assistance to those most in need whilst recognising the immense contribution carers make to our community.

Around 99 per cent of recipients will have no change at all to their payment. The one per cent of recipients who would be affected by the income test evidently have family incomes in excess of $250,000. The fortnightly carer allowance payments that would be foregone would have a very small percentage impact on the household income for families above that threshold. These carers would continue to remain eligible for carer support services and can also access the Medicare safety net for assistance with medical costs. The savings from this measure of $85.6 million will be invested in new early intervention support services for carers.

The national peak body for carers, Carers Australia, have worked with the government over a two-year period, and I would like to thank them for that good work, some of which I was a part of. They've worked with the government over a two-year period to design a new and improved model to deliver carer support services.

The government is introducing new carer support services as part of the Integrated Carer Support Service, forming the third and final stage of the 2015-16 budget commitment to develop an integrated plan for carer support services. The introduction of the Integrated Carer Support Service represents the biggest reform for carers in over a decade. The new service system will focus on early intervention as opposed to the current crisis-driven approach and the reforms are the result of an extensive two-year consultative process with carers and with the sector as a whole.

Given the growing demand for carers and the pressure of the caring role which may render carers vulnerable, it's crucial to ensure that payments and support services for carers continue to be provided into the future. Introducing what is, in effect, a generous income test threshold for carer allowance will help achieve these goals by targeting financial assistance to those most in need and align carer allowance with other income tested payments. Importantly, it provides capacity to fund services for carers without growing existing welfare expenditure, thereby yielding positive outcomes for carers now and into the future. For all those reasons, I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

See this speech in context