Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022. There have been extensive negotiations on this bill by the Australian Greens, led by our leader, Adam Bandt, and my wonderful colleague, Senator Pocock here. We think that there are going to be in amendment some important changes that are going to improve this bill overall. Overall, the Australian Greens think the bill is an in credibly important bit of legislation which will result in better conditions and, as the bill says, secure jobs and better pay for workers, particularly some of the amendments working on making sure that the better off overall test actually does mean better off overall for all workers, and increasing things like the ability to access unpaid parental leave.

A central rationale for this bill, which the Greens support and which has been put forward by government, has been the need to increase wages. We support that and we agree. But we also believe that in the middle of the cost-of-living crisis that we are facing government needs to also do more about raising the rate of income support. I want to focus in my speech today on the link between the benefits of raising the rate of income support and how that then flows and feeds into better jobs, better pay and more secure work for workers.

Inadequate income support means that, currently, if you're on the JobSeeker allowance then you get income support at the rate of $48 a day, which is not enough to live on by a long shot. The cost of living now means that the estimate of what you need not to be living in poverty is $88 a day, and yet JobSeeker only gives you $48 a day. The idea of course—and people say this—is that people don't want to be on JobSeeker for long periods of time. But a lot of people are. People are also on JobSeeker and do part-time or casual work. That's all they have access to, or it might be all that they're capable of doing because of health issues, but they boost their income by doing small amounts of work. But at the moment, if you do those small amounts of work then you can only earn an extra $75 a week, or $10 a day, before your JobSeeker payment starts cutting out at the rate of 50c in the dollar. That's a 50 per cent marginal tax rate for people on the lowest incomes in this country. And you only need to earn $1,300 a fortnight, or $92 a day, when your JobSeeker rate cuts out entirely.

I note that the Henderson poverty line shows that what you need not to be living in poverty is $88 a day, and yet JobSeeker cuts out completely if you earn only $92 a day. I've spoken many times in this chamber about the benefits to people of increasing the rate of JobSeeker, and I'll go into that again in this speech. But in terms of the nexus between the rate of JobSeeker and better pay and jobs for people, this undercuts that drastically. If you can only earn $92 a day before your income support cuts out entirely then that sets up the conditions for people working on the black market, people working cash in hand and people accepting really exploitative conditions which aren't in the formal job market, because they desperately need the money to survive.

That undercuts drastically our whole industrial relations framework, because you then have one unscrupulous employer who is paying people at way below the award rate, or below the rates that have been bargained for in enterprise bargains, because those people are desperate to get that money—and this is without any of the checks and balances of our industrial relations system. That's versus other employers who are trying to do the right thing by paying people properly and providing the right conditions; they can't compete against unscrupulous employers. So raising the rate of income support, in and of itself, is going to be an incredibly important mechanism to increase wages, to make sure that people who are working are being paid an appropriate amount for the value of their labour.

As well as having people living in absolute abject poverty on income support being bad for workers it's also incredibly bad for the people who have to survive on that. They need to get by while living in that quagmire of poverty. We know that the current rate is inadequate and we know that it has been inadequate for years. We've heard that from the community and from politicians. The community has told politicians clearly that the payment rate is inadequate. We know that people have to make really incredibly difficult choices about whether they pay the rent, pay for food or pay their medical bills. They're choosing between seeing a doctor or keeping the heating on. And people who are facing domestic violence, homelessness and many other challenges are trapped by a payment that is far too low.

As well as hearing it directly from community members, we've heard it directly from the peak bodies across multiple sectors—the same ones who are supporting this legislation before us today. The Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Council the Social Services have all, at different points, acknowledged the need to raise the rate, and urgently.

I want to share two stories with you today from people who have been forced to rely on income support payments. They will also give you an example of how living on inadequate income support reduces their ability to engage in paid work. If we are serious about getting people work, supporting people to be in work and supporting people to be able to move into paid employment, we need to be reducing the rate of income support as well as doing all of the important measures that are in this bill.

The first story you want to share with you is an anonymous one. This person begins:

I have been living on poverty on Centrelink payments, Austudy, Newstart and JobSeeker since leaving high school almost nine years back. I have never been able to afford housing that meets my needs as a disabled person with trauma from multiple domestic violence situations from various cohabitors. I can barely afford anywhere to live at all, actually, and the fact that I am once again likely having to find a place to live with current prices within my greater area starting at 70 per cent of the full JobSeeker payment is soul crushing.

I spend hundreds of dollars a month on medication and medical equipment I need to live on a day-to-day basis. I can't afford to see specialists for things like my ADHD or autism. I can barely afford basic foods. Almost any meat I buy is nearly off, any veg frozen, any snack half price or made from scratch. Almost all of my money goes directly to rent, bills, food and medical. The paltry leftovers aren't enough to keep my car on the road. I have to ask for help pretty much each year to cover CTP et cetera. (Also, almost every job I have ever applied for has specifically stated that applicants need a car, so people on JobSeeker are literally priced out of being able to work.) New clothes are cast-offs from friends or the clearance section at an already cheap store. I have never been able to buy my own phone—which, by the way, is needed just to access Centrelink payments, and an up-to-date phone with reasonable technical specs is a necessity for the vast majority of jobs I've worked or applied for.

COVID supplements—which merely raised me to around the poverty line, not even properly out of poverty—changed how I could live and feel for about a year. I didn't have to count every cent to make sure it would last two weeks till next pay. I was able to get medical care I desperately needed to get but couldn't before afford. Even then, though, I had to rely on the goodwill of the specialists to charge much less than the usual rates. I could afford car service and registration without having to beg others for help. I felt vaguely human and part of society for a brief time. My mental health, despite the turmoil of the time, had never been better.

I would like to continue to take the medications that allow me to get up of a morning and do anything other than stare into the distance. I'd like to be able to afford taking any of the jobs I have been applying for, in industries important to Australia but currently struggling for workers. I would like to be able to afford glasses that don't give me a headache. I'd like to be able to afford chicken that I don't have to immediately take home and sniff and hope it's not gone bad. I'd like a lot of things that you and so many take for granted as part of your everyday lives and would cost you and Australia so very little. I just want to be human again. Is that so much to ask?

The second story is from Miranda. She says:

Currently, I am completely burned out and have been for at least five years. Five years ago, I had a 15-year-old in and out of hospital and in a wheelchair. I also had a 13-year-old living with ME/CFS and at school part-time, when he wasn't getting a cold that left him in bed for six weeks at a time. As a single parent, I was also working 30 hours a week, twice the number of hours required, yet still needing income support. I had a breakdown that year and have never recovered.

I lost my job when my bosses retired before lockdown in 2020. When the COVID supplement was introduced, I was able to pay my rent, bills and provide for my kids. The younger one was bedbound with ME/CFS. My second job was down to an hour a week.

Once my youngest turned 18, just before Christmas, I lost family tax benefit and child support as well as JobSeeker being back to the normal rate. I still have the casual job that varies a lot during the year, from three hours a week to 25 hours a week. I had another one that came to an end recently.

This year, I was diagnosed with autism and ADHD. My younger kid, who still lives at home, was also diagnosed with autism. This kid is still mostly bedbound with ME/CFS too. I can't in good conscience subject him to the torture that is mutual obligations, as this will send his health backwards.

I have been dealing with job search agencies & mutual obligations on and off for over 20 years, since I was fired for being pregnant. Not once have they helped me get a job. Instead, I have been advised to straight out lie to potential employers about my circumstances!

I am worried about how I will continue to pay rent as it's $10 a day more than JobSeeker… however there are no rentals in the area, cheaper or otherwise. Both my son and I have high health needs and I'm still completely burned out.

JobSeeker needs to be raised so that I can take care of my health, and my kids health, keep a roof over our heads, pay our bills, as well as have a better chance of finding employment and other opportunities to bring in an income.

I want to say thank you to all the advocates who have been fighting to raise the rate of income support. We hear you, and we will keep fighting for change.

As Miranda and the others have told us, there is clear evidence that things can be better and clear evidence that raising the rate of income support is critically important for secure jobs and better wages for workers. For a decade, the Liberals left the payment rate below the poverty line, but for a brief window with the COVID supplement we saw how things could be different. People spoke about the differences that being able to afford food and a safe place to stay made in their lives. People could afford their medical bills and their energy bills. Research showed that the COVID supplement halved the rate of poverty in Australia. Particularly, it also showed that more people were able to enter the job market. More people were actually able to get work during COVID because of the increased rate of income support. It shows again that connection between work and actually supporting people who are out of work on JobSeeker.

That experience in the midst of a crisis showed us that there can be a different way. We can raise the rate of income support and meaningfully reduce poverty and increase conditions and better jobs for workers in Australia. This is an approach that the Greens have constantly advocated for. I do want to, again, acknowledge the important work of my predecessor in my portfolio, Senator Rachel Siewert, over many years, particularly her work chairing the inquiry into the adequacy of Newstart and related payments.

We included a commitment to raise the rate of JobSeeker in our election platform with a clear, costed policy. The Labor Party have been reluctant to do this and are yet to put forward one of their own. At the same time, they have been carrying forward the Scott Morrison stage 3 tax cuts and insisting on giving $250 billion over the decade to the ultra-wealthy. We put forward clear amendments to a bill that recently passed through this place, and I thank Senator David Pocock for his support of those amendments. I also want to thank Senator David Pocock for his important advocacy during the negotiations on this bill for the need to raise the rate and for pushing the government to act. If the commitment put forward by the Labor Party as part of the negotiations over this bill does lead to a meaningful increase in the rate of JobSeeker, then we will welcome it. But there can't be an excuse for further inaction and delaying action, because people are living in poverty now. The skyrocketing cost of living is real now. We need to have an increase in the rate now.

To wrap up, as my colleagues have indicated, and as I said at the beginning of my speech, the Greens are supporting this bill. We will also continue to actively advocate for an increase to the rate of JobSeeker. If the government's commitment as part of those negations leads to meaningful change, we will welcome it, but it cannot be an excuse for inaction. We will continue to push for a guaranteed liveable income so that there is genuine support for everyone who needs it.