Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a great pleasure to rise and provide some commentary today about the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Remote Engagement Program) Bill 2021. Some may query why a metropolitan member of parliament is rising to speak on a bill that relates to remote engagement. I've had the great opportunity of living and working in some of our regions around Australia, as has my wife. When we were both quite young Army officers and before we had kids, we were posted up in Darwin, and part of my wife's role as the member of the intelligence company up there was to travel throughout the regions right across the Top End and build and maintain those networks for the purposes of information sharing. It was quite a wonderful role and one that she certainly cherished, and I was able to get out into some of those regions myself whilst we were in the Top End. One of the things that became quite obvious during that engagement was that the opportunities to access employment are clearly lacking in the remote areas of Australia, and that's where the bill before us today is absolutely focused.

Employment bills give all of us a sense of dignity and purpose, a way to give back to society and to generate rewards for ourselves and our families. Principally, the benefits here I would categorised as dignity and self-worth. Dignity is obtained because we're drawing a wage that allows us to live in a manner which is, for the large part, free of interference from others. Of course we have a responsibility to pay taxes and for those taxes to be responsibly managed by the government of the day. Self-worth is achieved as we participate in society and we produce a good or a service that is of value to others. Providing that good or service and seeing how that benefits society have an intrinsic reward for the person generating that good or service. The reverse is also absolutely accurate: when we are unemployed or when we are underemployed, it's much harder to maintain dignity and self-respect.

Whilst we may intrinsically believe that this is the case, it's important to note that this is absolutely backed up by research. In 2011 Australian and New Zealand Consensus Statement on the Health Benefits of Work was published by the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The signatories here reached a consensus on the following points: that work is generally good for health and wellbeing; that long-term work absence, work disability and unemployment have a negative impact on health and wellbeing; that work is an effective means of reducing poverty—that seems fairly self-explanatory, since one is earning a wage when one is working; and that work is also effective at reducing social exclusion, including that faced by Indigenous populations and other currently disadvantaged groups. With appropriate support, many of those who have the potential to work but are not currently working because of economic and social inequalities, illness or acquired congenital disability can access the benefits of work. The signatories also agreed that individuals seeking to enter the workforce for the first time, seeking re-employment or attempting to return to work after a period of, say, injury or illness face a complex situation in which there are a great many variables and that good outcomes are more likely when individuals themselves understand that there are health benefits relating to work and are empowered to take responsibility for their own situation. Those are the comments that stemmed from the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. What it all points to is a very clear indication that there are inherent benefits of being in employment.

Over many decades, governments have tried different approaches to delivering employment services in remote Australia. I've been tracking the debate and have heard a number of my colleagues on both sides here acknowledge that these programs are challenging and complex and difficult. Indeed, we've learned that what works in our cities may not work in our regions and remote areas. Australians living in those remote communities face some complex employment challenges, and these are very different to the employment challenges faced in urban areas. Remote areas cover 75 per cent of the Australian landmass, and there are just fewer jobs available in remote areas. In fact, less than two per cent of actively trading businesses are located in these remote areas. Whilst this does not exclusively impact Indigenous Australians, it does disproportionately affect that cohort.

Debate interrupted.

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