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

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Social Services, Senator Fifield. During budget estimates, the Department of Social Services were unable to clearly explain some of the measures associated with the scheme to condemn people under 30 to a period of six months of no income support. Can the minister please confirm whether a member of a couple who are both unemployed and under the age of 30, with a child or children, could be denied income support? Could a pregnant woman under the age of 30 be denied income support more than six weeks before her due date? If so, what impact does the government consider this crippling poverty will have on the wellbeing of those families and their children?