Judith Troeth (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Kemp, the Minister representing the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. What response has the government received to its proposals to ensure children at risk of neglect continue to benefit from federal payments to families?

Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for the Arts and Sport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Troeth for her important question. Australian families are benefiting from coalition policies that are delivering a stronger economy, more jobs, greater security and greater prosperity. As Australia’s economy has grown on this government’s watch, the coalition has placed even more emphasis on helping families, particularly those with children. In fact, senators will recall that total family assistance payments have increased from $14 billion in 1996-97 to nearly $28 billion in 2006-07. Combined with the tax relief the coalition has delivered in recent years, this family assistance has significantly reduced the financial burden on families. The coalition government is committed to continuing to develop policies that provide support and security for Australian families.

Recently, the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs made another significant announcement on family payment policy at the 50th annual conference of the Australian Council of Social Services, most commonly known as ACOSS. While most of the welfare money provided by Australian governments to families is used wisely, in some cases it has to be said this benefit does not flow to children. The sad reality is that, where drugs, alcohol or gambling are a problem, children are often missing out on the basic nutrition, secure housing, clothing and education that we all consider a child’s basic rights. At the ACOSS conference, the minister proposed to allow a proportion of welfare payments to be quarantined to pay for children’s needs in cases where children have been identified as being at risk of neglect. This proposal will not take one cent of welfare from families but it will provide another tool to child protection authorities.

Over the five years between 1999 and 2004, child protection notifications across Australia more than doubled from 107,000 to 235,000. The latest proposal is an important tool in our efforts to promote child protection. This new proposal will be introduced—and I stress this—in consultation with the states. The minister has proposed three steps that he wishes to discuss with state governments: (1) to look at ways in which the current use of the Centrepay facility can be made mandatory in cases already identified by state child protection systems where there is a risk to the child but the child remains with the family; (2) further development in conjunction with state authorities and service deliveries for quarantine payments to be further differentiated for food, clothing, education and other specific needs, and allocated to families using a more refined debit systems; and (3) the application of quarantining provisions in cases of serial truancy. This proposal builds on a recent COAG commitment by state and national leaders to reinforce compulsory school education.

I am pleased to report some positive responses. For example, the Queensland minister for child protection said that if a voucher system could prevent parents blowing money on drugs or alcohol instead of feeding and clothing their kids then it would have merit. The coalition government are committed to continuing to build on supporting Australian families, and we look forward to working with the states and territories towards protecting children at risk.