Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senators for their contributions to this debate. The Social Security Amendment (2007 Measures No. 1) Bill 2007 builds on the Howard government’s Welfare to Work reforms by extending eligibility for the mobility allowance and making it easier for people with disability to find work in the open labour market. The amendments also improve the labour market potential of people claiming youth allowance by ensuring the move for young people from full-time study into the labour market is supported by prompt assistance from Centrelink. Welfare to Work measures supporting parents are extended so that people receiving partnered parenting payment can access more support if they have a partial work capacity due to disability. This additional support is consistent with that received by people on Newstart allowance with partial capacity to work.

The Social Security Amendment (2007 Measures No. 2) Bill 2007 gives effect to announcements made in the budget. As with the first bill, this bill also builds on the Howard government’s Welfare to Work reforms. It does so by ensuring better arrangements for principal carers, improved consistency and efficiency in income support decisions and greater clarity in the application of social security law. These amendments recognise the contribution made by grandparents and other relatives when they take on formal caring responsibilities for a child, often preventing the need for foster care arrangements. The amendments extend access to automatic exemptions from participation requirements already in place for some principal carers. In addition, some principal carers will have access to a higher rate of payment while they take on care of a child to whom they are related.

The bill also updates the terminology used in the impairment tables on schedule 1B of the Social Security Act 1991. The updated terminology reflects the broader range of health professionals who are now able to determine impairment ratings against the impairment tables. I would like to make it very clear that these changes do not prohibit the involvement of medical officers and do not reduce the importance of medical information in relation to assigning impairment ratings. In fact, a job capacity assessor is instructed by the Department of Human Services’ guidelines to take into account all relevant supporting material, including the treating doctor’s report, when making these sorts of assessments.

Assertions by the opposition that this measure weakens the role of medical officers and their supporting reports in this process are simply untrue and misleading. Welfare to Work measures are not an attempt to save money. In fact, they will cost around $3.6 billion over four years. They are part of a genuine attempt to move people from welfare to work for the long-term benefit of Australia. The Welfare to Work measures seek to increase workforce participation through a balance of improved services, increased financial incentives and appropriate obligations. The measures include changes to income support payments, increases in employment services, changes to the participation requirements and a new compliance system. Both bills provide even further support for people assisted under the government’s Welfare to Work reforms. I commend these bills to the Senate, and I seek leave to incorporate other parts of the summing-up speech in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The incorporated speech read as follows—

The 2007 Measures Bill Number 1 builds on the Howard Government’s Welfare to Work reforms by extending eligibility for Mobility Allowance and making it easier for people with disability to find work in the open labour market.

The amendments also improve the labour market potential of people claiming Youth Allowance, by ensuring the move for young people from full-time study into the labour market is supported by prompt assistance from Centrelink.

Welfare to Work measures supporting parents are extended, so that people receiving partnered parenting payment can access more support if they have a partial work capacity due to disability. This additional support is consistent with that received by people with partial capacity to work on Newstart Allowance.

Access to a higher rate of payment is extended to people with shared care of a child. This recognises the costs incurred by parents who share the care of a child, and reflects the important recommendations of the 2006 Ministerial taskforce report on child support.

This Bill also ensures that mature age job seekers can combine self-employment, as well as other types of employment, with voluntary work in order to meet their activity test requirements.

The 2007 Measures Bill Number 2 gives effect to announcements made in the Budget. As with the first Bill, this Bill also builds on the Howard Government’s Welfare to Work reforms. It does so by ensuring better arrangements for principal carers, improved consistency and efficiency in income support decisions and greater clarity in the application of social security law.

These amendments recognise the contribution made by grandparents and other relatives when they take on formal caring responsibilities for a child, often preventing the need for foster care arrangements. The amendments extend access to automatic exemptions from participation requirements already in place for some principal carers. In addition, some principal carers will have access to a higher rate of payment while they take on care of a child to whom they are related.

The amendments also streamline the administration of transfers between one income support payment and another. Restrictions will operate on the time frame in which a payments transfer can be made, and transfers to the closed payments of Mature Age and Partner Allowance, will no longer be possible.

The second Bill also provides for legislative guidelines to be made regarding the review of income support determinations in relation to partial capacity to work, current or continuing inability to work, impairment ratings and incapacity exemptions from the activity test. The guidelines will ensure continued consistency across income support decisions, and will be contained in Legislative Instruments, increasing the ability of the Parliament to scrutinize the arrangements as they are implemented.

The Bill also updates the terminology used in the Impairment Tables in Schedule lB of the Social Security Act 7991. The updated terminology reflects the broader range of health professionals who are now also able to determine impairment ratings against the Impairment Tables.

I would like to make it very clear that these changes do not prohibit the involvement of medical officers and do not reduce the importance of medical information in relation to assigning impairment ratings.

In fact, a Job Capacity Assessor is instructed by the Department of Human Services guidelines that they must take into account all relevant supporting material, including the treating doctor’s report when making these sorts of assessments.

Assertions by the Opposition that this measure weakens the role of medical officers and their supporting reports in this process are simply untrue and misleading.

These two Bills provide even further support to people assisted under the Government’s Welfare to Work reforms. These reforms are helping people with the right supports and incentives to make the transition from welfare to work –and we all know that in most instances, a paid job is always better than a life on welfare which feeds further generational welfare.

Australia’s welfare system is designed to provide a safety net for those who genuinely need it. Ours is a generous and well-targeted system by world standards.

With an ageing population, Australia will confront the challenge of a diminishing supply of workers and an increased number of aged dependents. Through a greater emphasis on moving people from welfare to work, we can meet this challenge, sustain our prosperity and ensure those working age people who are able to contribute have the opportunity of doing so.

Our Welfare to Work measures aren’t an attempt to save money. In fact, they will cost around $3.6 billion over four years. They are part of a genuine attempt to move people from welfare to the work, for the long-term benefit of Australia.

The Welfare to Work measures seeks to increase workforce participation through a balance of improved services, increased financial incentives, and appropriate obligations. The measures include changes to income support payments, increases in employment services, changes to participation requirements, and a new compliance system.

The Welfare to Work package includes a number measures aimed at addressing the specific employment needs of a number of income support recipients. Groups targeted by the measures are mature age people, parents, people with a disability and the very long term unemployed.

Both Bills provide even further support to people assisted under the Government’s Welfare to Work reforms.

I commend these Bills to the Senate.