Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The government wholeheartedly supports the idea of a review. It is one of the areas that in opposition we have argued for. Reviews are necessary and they provide a worthwhile check to see how matters are going. We have concerns. It is not unusual to express that. Looking at the breadth of 2(e), it is a review regarding the impact of the compliance regime. Clause 2(e) says:

the gaps between federal policy and state service provision for persons with non-vocational special needs or barriers;

And 2(f) says:

the adequacy of non-vocational support services in regional areas;

As I have said, insofar as they seem to only have tenuous links to the compliance system, we also have concerns about how some of these matters will actually be able to be measured. Nonetheless, a review is a matter that the government will support, notwithstanding the concerns that I have raised.