Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes) Bill 2025 will amend the Social Security Act 1991 to maintain current arrangements for youth disability support pension payment rates.

The Disability Support Pension—the DSP—has different rates for recipients aged under 21, depending on their circumstances, including their family situation. This includes a single dependent living at home rate, and a higher independent rate.

This reflects the long-established policy position that higher rates of payment should be targeted to those with greater need, such as those living independently or away from home.

These technical amendments are necessary as a recent merits review decision highlighted an unintended consequence of the Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare to Work and Other Measures) Act 2005.

That act introduced the partial capacity to work rule 'independence' criteria for youth allowance recipients. The accompanying Explanatory Memorandum indicates that this was intended to apply to youth allowance recipients only.

It was not the objective of the partial capacity to work independence amendments to affect the DSP, which is a completely different payment category. Or that the amendments would affect the rate of payment a DSP recipient receives.

However, as a result of the merits review outcome, it is now understood that a drafting error in the amendments made in 2005 means that certain DSP recipients under 21 are impacted. This, in turn, affected the rates of support those recipients are entitled to receive.

This bill makes technical changes to provide for the intended different rates of payment for DSP youth recipients, based on their circumstances, including their family situation.

For those young people who are assessed as independent, or needing to live away from home, it is appropriate that they receive a higher level of financial support from government, recognising their circumstances and need for additional assistance.

In addition, without this bill, there would be a distinction between DSP rates for youth recipients based on whether they are undertaking full-time study or are a new apprentice. They would receive a lower rate of support than other youth DSP recipients, meaning there would be a perverse incentive for young people with disability to stop studying to receive the higher independent rate of payment.

This would be at odds with the priorities of Australia's Disability Strategy which includes providing support to people with disability to achieve their full potential through education and learning. To leave the legislation unchanged would undermine this priority.

This bill will also validate past rate decisions consistent with this longstanding policy.

The passage of this bill will maintain current arrangements for youth disability support pension payment rates.

I commend this bill to the House.

  Debate adjourned.