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

My question is to the Minister for Human Services, Senator Chris Ellison. Could the minister inform the Senate how many people have been breached by Centrelink—that is, how many people on income support payments have been given an eight-week non-payment period—since the introduction of Welfare to Work in July 2006? Can the minister inform the Senate how many Indigenous people have been breached during this period and how that compares to the previous financial year?

Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What I can say in relation to Welfare to Work is the great success we are having with the active engagement of those people who are seeking work. I do not have those figures available—and I can provide them to the Senate—but I can say this: Centrelink does not breach someone simply on a whim. It is after there has been engagement with the person concerned. I have actually seen some of those interviews take place where people have come in with their job activity statement and have gone through the efforts they have undertaken to find work.

In relation to those who are having difficulty, we do have job capacity assessors. Both the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service and other providers do fulfil that task where they can have one-to-one engagement and be relieved of those requirements so that they can become ready for work, and that can take a period of time—up to six months in some cases and even longer.

So, on the question of simply breaching someone who does not abide by those requirements of mutual obligation, it is not something which is done in a capricious manner. Centrelink, I believe, goes out of its way to ensure that the outcome is that someone gets a job. That really is the goal of Welfare to Work. The delivery of the welfare is a job. It is finding someone the means of gainful employment, enabling them to make a contribution and improve their own lot in life. It is not about trying to just breach someone and look for ways to find a default.

In relation to the actual number, I do not have those figures available to me. I will get back to the Senate with the numbers for that period of time that Senator Siewert is after.

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

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Could the minister explain why there is no data on the relevant websites since June 2006? Perhaps he can also explain at the same time why the data for the quarter to September 2006, which was previously available on the website, is no longer on the website, and would that have something to do with the fact that the website was last altered on 2 April 2007?

Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I said, I will get the details that Senator Siewert wants. But can I say that we do have significant additional resources committed to our participation solution teams and also to our area participation teams. It is important that we get people back to work where they possibly can. If they need more extensive and intensive engagement, we do that through our job capacity assessment and they can be dealt with by the Commonwealth Rehabilitation Service or other providers. Certainly I understand Senator Siewert’s interest in the numbers. I will get that for the Senate. The important thing is the benefit that Welfare to Work is providing in finding outcomes for people by getting them back to work. We have seen that today with the increase in participation rate and unemployment falling to record 30-year lows—4.3 per cent today, a great result.