Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

It may sound as though I am being pedantic but it is a really important point. There are 1,644 people who have been breached and incurred eight weeks non-payment period in the last 12 months. It has gone up by 250 per cent and we know that Aboriginal people already are having trouble accessing their appeals. There is a special support appeals process for Aboriginal people. From anecdotal evidence in some of the answers to questions I asked earlier, I know that they are not accessing that appeals process for a variety of reasons. Given that there is a such a significant increase under Welfare to Work of the number of Aboriginal people being breached, this is a really important point. If people cannot appeal when they have been breached, that has a very serious, detrimental impact on them, their families and their community. That is why I am being so particular about trying to find out about this. The way I read it is that, if you are under an income management regime, I cannot see why you are not breached. That is why I want to make sure it is really clear that people absolutely can appeal if they are breached and incur a non-payment period.