Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to  speak on the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Participation Requirement) Bill 2009. From 1 January 2010, this bill introduces a participation requirement for a family tax benefit part A: children aged 16 to 20. Under this requirement, family tax benefit A will only be paid to children aged 16 to 20 if they have completed their final year of secondary school or equivalent level of education, or are working towards achieving this through full-time study. I need to place on record my disappointment that no-one from the opposition will be speaking on this legislation. The shadow minister has withdrawn from speaking on it. We are dealing with legislation that refers to young people and young people’s opportunities in life and it really worries me that the opposition cannot make the commitment towards young people.

This legislation not only places a compliance requirement on young people to undertake study but also creates an opportunity. It creates the opportunity for young people to earn or learn. This legislation reinforces the compact that was announced previously. This legislation also provides that once a child has satisfied the test, which is to undertake learning, the family tax benefit A continues to be paid subject to other existing rules relating to age and income et cetera.

A very important part of the legislation is that there will be capacity to exempt a young person from the family tax benefit activity test in certain circumstances. These are very reasonable circumstances that I deem to be essential enough for me to stand up here and support the legislation wholeheartedly today. The first circumstance is that if there is no locally accessible, approved course of educational study, including any such course available by distance education, for a young person, they will be exempt. This is a very important requirement. The second circumstance is where there is such a course but with no places available. We all know that in some areas young people try to enrol in courses but there are no places available. Even in my own area, where we have access to quality education through our TAFE colleges and schools, sometimes it is not possible for a young person to obtain a place. The third circumstance is when a person is not qualified to undertake the course or the person lacks the capacity to undertake the course due to physical, psychiatric, intellectual or learning disability. Learning disability was one of the areas that I felt was very important for us to provide an exemption on. The fourth circumstance is where, in the secretary’s opinion, special circumstances make it unreasonable for that person to undertake a course.

The new rules will start on 1 January 2010. However, they will be applied and implemented progressively. New claimants from January 2010, including those receiving the end-of-year lump sum past period payment, will be subject to the new activity test. I believe this is good legislation. I support it. I see it as legislation that is creating an opportunity for young people to learn. It shows that the Rudd government is committed to seeing that every young person either earns or learns. The government is committed to putting incentives in place for this to happen while recognising that there are special circumstances where it is not appropriate.

I note that the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs has entered the chamber. Before concluding my contribution to this debate, I would like to put on record the fine work that she has done not only in this area but across the board and, in particular, the enormous contribution that she has made this week during the apology to the forgotten people. The minister has gone above and beyond what should be expected. She is an ideal minister to be working in this portfolio. She is concerned and has compassion, but at the same time she brings a knowledge base to her portfolio. So I would like to place on record my congratulations to her not only for the legislation that she has drafted and that we are debating here in the chamber but also for the fine work that she has done in relation to the apology.

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will be very brief. I know the minister has a busy schedule. I just wanted to address a comment made by the member for Shortland. The shadow minister, who of course has supported the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Participation Requirement) Bill 2009, is in Sydney for a function today. That is why he is unable to speak on the bill. I just wanted to put that on the record to correct a piece of information that was being perpetrated by the member for Shortland on the other side. The Liberal Party have a very proud record of standing up for young people and creating opportunities for the future. We did that for 11½ years by creating a record number of jobs and real wage increases and so forth. With those brief remarks, I will conclude. Thank you.

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

in reply—I thank the member for Shortland for her comments, personal remarks and support. I appreciate that very much. And I appreciate the opposition’s support for the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Participation Requirement) Bill 2009. In summing up, I think it is important to just go back a few months and recognise that in April this year the government, through the Council of Australian Governments, agreed on a very significant plan to increase young people’s participation in education and training. I think everybody in the parliament understands the value of completing secondary school and the impact that early school leaving has on a young person’s lifelong employment outcomes. We have been determined through this Compact with Young Australians to make sure that we do everything possible to provide an education or training place for young people under the age of 25.

The legislation in front of us today is in support of the initiatives in the compact. This legislation will make secondary education a requirement for payment of family tax benefits for young people aged over 16. It is a very significant piece of legislation. From next year, a child aged 16 to 20 will have to be studying towards year 12 or an equivalent qualification, or have completed such a course, to be eligible for family tax benefit part A. This requirement will of course be subject to certain exemptions to take into account a young person’s capacity to actually complete a program of study. They may have problems of a physical, psychiatric, intellectual or learning disability nature. There will be exemptions where there is no locally accessible approved course of education or study and no such course is available by distance education. There will also be exemptions where there are special circumstances that make it unreasonable for the young person to undertake the course. The provisions will also provide some flexibility in relation to the young person’s study load where a different load is appropriate to the young person’s circumstances—due to illness, for example.

The new participation requirement introduced by this bill will apply from 1 January 2010 for new claimants and end-of-year lump sum claimants. Families who have already claimed payments by instalment for a period before 1 January 2010 will have the new rules applied from 1 May 2010. This later starting date for existing customers will give Centrelink adequate time to make necessary IT system changes.

As I said before, these are very significant changes. They are a clear statement by the government that family payments are provided for a purpose. They should be directed in the best interests of children. I think we all understand that education is a key driver of future success for children; our family payments system will support this policy goal. I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.