Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

What I can say in relation to Welfare to Work is the great success we are having with the active engagement of those people who are seeking work. I do not have those figures available—and I can provide them to the Senate—but I can say this: Centrelink does not breach someone simply on a whim. It is after there has been engagement with the person concerned. I have actually seen some of those interviews take place where people have come in with their job activity statement and have gone through the efforts they have undertaken to find work.

In relation to those who are having difficulty, we do have job capacity assessors. Both the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service and other providers do fulfil that task where they can have one-to-one engagement and be relieved of those requirements so that they can become ready for work, and that can take a period of time—up to six months in some cases and even longer.

So, on the question of simply breaching someone who does not abide by those requirements of mutual obligation, it is not something which is done in a capricious manner. Centrelink, I believe, goes out of its way to ensure that the outcome is that someone gets a job. That really is the goal of Welfare to Work. The delivery of the welfare is a job. It is finding someone the means of gainful employment, enabling them to make a contribution and improve their own lot in life. It is not about trying to just breach someone and look for ways to find a default.

In relation to the actual number, I do not have those figures available to me. I will get back to the Senate with the numbers for that period of time that Senator Siewert is after.