Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be speaking on the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management Reform) Bill 2023. This bill reflects the Albanese Labor government's commitment to reform income management. Last year our government passed legislation to repeal the cashless debit card, or CDC, program. And that delivered on our election commitment to make sure we got rid of the cashless debit card. We see and hear today that those opposite are absolutely committed to bringing that back, which would be very distressing for many in those communities who, for many years, advocated and campaigned to have the cashless debit card removed because of the impact on so many communities. We certainly heard from hundreds and hundreds of people whose lives had been severely impacted by the card, and I'm sure all of those people will be absolutely aghast to hear that the Liberals and Nationals are committed to bringing back the cashless debit card, as they've repeatedly claimed today. The fact is that the cashless debit card was unfair, and it was incredibly detrimental to many people's lives. We heard stories of people that couldn't pay their rent or their car repayments. It was imposed upon communities without consultation and with no notice at all. We know that the former government, the Morrison government, had plans to expand the cashless debit card to other communities and plans to extend it to age pensioners as well. We've seen that reported a number of times. As I say, we went to the election with a commitment to abolish the cashless debit card.

Once that legislation was passed, during the repeal of the cashless debit card, we established the Enhanced Income Management program, and today we are moving these amendments to ensure that income management participants are better supported. We know how important it is to provide all of those services that can be accessed—so vitally important for people in a range of communities. The bill sets out amendments that will (1) provide existing income management participants with the choice to access a more contemporary card, known as the SmartCard and (2) direct all new income management participants to the SmartCard. That means no new participants will be issued with the BasicsCard. The bill is truly a product of meaningful community consultation because we do believe in listening to communities and working with them to get outcomes that best reflect them—not imposing policies and plans upon them like the previous government did. This bill is a product of that meaningful consultation.

The SmartCard is contemporary visa technology delivered by Services Australia which will give participants access to a modern financial experience. It includes access to tap-and-go transactions, online shopping, BPAY and a PIN for added security. In addition, this bill ensures that participants will receive front-facing, people-driven services delivered by Services Australia—not a private company, as was the case under the previous government with the cashless debit card. It caused a huge amount of distress that people were not able to speak to a person about their individual circumstances in order to access the goods and services they needed. This will be driven by Services Australia, and it really ensures that the most vulnerable in our community are best supported—those who need that support. It was incredibly difficult before, when it was a private company, because they had to call and they were not receiving the support.

We've also listened to the strong feedback about the BasicsCard, which includes feedback delivered in the many submissions to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee. This bill takes steps to further address concerns around the inadequacies of the BasicsCard. We know from feedback and consultation that the SmartCard meets the community expectations. This bill gives existing income management participants the choice to move to that more enhanced technology.

I've spoken to many people in income management on the ground in the regions. I've heard firsthand what their communities need and want. This bill, plus the changes we've already introduced, is what communities have asked for. That's what we have done—consulted, listened and acted—and we'll continue to do that. We do that because this government understands it's not one-size-fits-all; complex issues require complex solutions, often on a case-by-case, location-by-location basis after listening to those communities. We understand that genuine consultation is the way forward. We don't impose the massive legislative policy change—as the previous government did—that caused so much distress when the cashless debit card was brought in.

I also highlight that this bill will ensure there are no new compulsory referrals for aged pensioners and special-needs pensioners. We will also ensure that for veterans' payments are non-eligible payments for enhanced income management. This reflects our government's view that it was never appropriate, and ensures that any attempts at changes in the future will actually be put to the parliament for legislative change. We believe it's vitally important to include that.

I reiterate to the House that these proposed amendments do not pre-empt longer-term considerations around any income management, depending upon what those communities may raise with us. But our government was very, very clear about our commitment to abolish the cashless debit card, which we have delivered on. It's an issue that has been raised with us for many years. We made it very clear at that election that we intended to abolish the cashless debit card. We listened to communities and we've done that. As of 6 March 2023 participants in the Northern Territory, Cape York and Doomadgee have all successfully transitioned to Enhanced Income Management. Volunteering participants in other former CDC sites have also been able to transition to Enhanced Income Management.

As I say, in working closely with those communities, we know one of the most important aspects is providing support. We're going to be doing that. Under the previous government, all of the funding for those supports had just stopped. They had no plans to continue them. We are going to continue giving support to these communities with our $17 million for an economic development grant plan which is currently underway to implement projects to create sustainable jobs in Ceduna, Kimberly, the Goldfields and Cape York. And there's $1.5 million for immediate community priorities in the Goldfields, Kimberley and Ceduna.

Today's bill does not change the operation of income management in the Northern Territory and other place based locations. In addition, this bill won't change the eligibility criteria in the assessment process. What this bill will do is give the same choice to existing income management participants in the Northern Territory and other place based locations to actually be able to access and use that contemporary technology. As we said when we abolished the CDC last year, we are committed to informed and detailed consultations with communities on the future of income management and in continuing to work with those communities. Any decisions about the future of income management have to be based on consultation with those communities, state and territory governments and a whole range of people, particularly those participants. We will keep doing that. We will keep talking to all of those participants, recipients, frontline services and First Nations leaders, We will constantly keep working with them.

Also, we will continue to invest in and deliver improved opportunities and services to best support and empower our most vulnerable people. That's exactly what we've done with the support services that we have put in place. We're ensuring that Services Australia plays such a vital role in the assistance that people need.

I would like to finish by, again, just raising with the House the community concerns that have been raised now that we're hearing from the Liberals and Nationals that they intend to bring back the cashless debit card. We know it was always their intention to expand it further. I imagine that would be very distressing for communities right throughout the country. We know they wanted to extend it to so many communities and to our age pensioners as well. Today, they have confirmed that that is their intention—they want the cashless debit card back. Well, we have made it very clear. We repealed the cashless debit card and we will continue to fight their objective of bringing it back. We want to work with individual communities and get the best outcomes for them. That is exactly what we have done and that's what this bill today relates to. I commend the bill to the House.

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