Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. How is the government reforming welfare to boost participation and get more people into jobs?

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

I thank the member for Bass for his question, as he knows that this government's first priority is to keep the economy strong so we can keep families in jobs. This budget builds on our very strong record of supporting and creating jobs. There are now 750,000 more Australians in work than there were when we came into office in November 2007.

We believe that more Australians should be able to share in the benefits of our strong economy—enjoy the financial and the social benefits that come from work. Too many Australians have missed out on a job for far too long. This budget delivers a very significant workforce participation package which rewards work and provides new opportunities but which also introduces new requirements and new obligations on those who are looking for work. It also takes a very innovative approach to addressing disadvantage in targeted locations around our country. There are specific measures and support for different groups, such as wage subsidies for the long-term unemployed and new participation obligations for teenage parents, jobless families and younger people on the disability pension. There are more support services, such as the new Communities for Children initiative. All of these initiatives are designed to couple intensive support with increased obligations, to give that extra help that people need to get them into work and to make sure that they too are able to share in economic opportunities.

This government is pioneering a new welfare equation. On the one side, there is an expectation that people should take personal responsibility for themselves and for their children—to make sure that their children get to school, to make sure that they provide a secure and caring home and to make sure that they plan for the future. On the other side, there is an expectation that government must be there to deliver the conditions in the welfare system—the practical support and the opportunities that foster personal responsibility. This new welfare equation has been acknowledged by organisations like the Brotherhood of St Laurence:

At long last we see policy initiatives that recognise that the most disadvantaged in our community have modest mainstream aspirations and that they won’t shy from increased obligations in welfare if they are matched with more and better assistance.

This is the test of the new welfare morality: that increased obligations are commensurate with the additional assistance on offer. It’s a test that the welfare initiatives in the Budget pass.