Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on theSocial Security Amendment (Training Incentives) Bill 2009, a bill which the opposition will not be opposing. This bill presents two key elements: firstly, it undertakes to provide a new temporary training supplement of a proposed $41 60 per fortnight to eligible job seekers on Newstart allowance or parenting payment who undertake approved training to assist them to achieve a year 12 completion or its equivalent because they currently do not hold it; secondly, it undertakes to amend the participation requirements for certain young people requiring them to either earn or learn—to use the government’s language—in order to be eligible for youth allowance.

The temporary training supplement is, as I mentioned, a supplement which the opposition will not be opposing. Not every person leaves school with year 12 or equivalent qualifications, and their reasons for doing so are quite varied. At the time of their leaving, joining the workforce immediately may have been inviting but, as history has shown, more often than not those without qualifications are indeed in a high-risk group for becoming unemployed during times of economic downturn. With this supplement, it is envisaged that these people will use it to return to training to upgrade their qualifications in order to find employment, an opportunity that some will utilise and make the most of. However, there are some who may not take up this opportunity and it is therefore important that for the short time—just two years—that this supplement is going to be available, that it will actually provide benefit to the people it is aiming to assist.

It is obvious that the introduction of this supplement is because of the economic downturn, a downturn which those opposite have certainly exacerbated. As we know, all too sadly, in economic downturns one of the first indicators is rising unemployment, and clearly this training supplement is to provide assistance to those most likely to be unemployed during the difficult times we are currently experiencing. Having said that, the supplement certainly should not be used to hide or mask the unemployment level as it rises. What we are seeing is that, rather than address the issue of future rising unemployment levels, the Rudd government, to some extent, want to disguise them behind a temporary training assistance support payment. There is no real guidance from the government on how they will guarantee that people undertaking this training will find employment afterwards or about training areas which will give more assistance to those people undertaking it and seeking to find a job after they complete that training.

To find employment you need to hold a set of skills or qualifications which business and employers are in need of. Obviously the needs of employers and businesses are constantly changing, and the sort of training that is offered should certainly reflect the changed needs of business and employers. Business needs to be convinced that the short training that is being undertaken will in some way be of benefit to them if they are to subsequently employ that person. Training for training’s sake is not the answer and it is not an automatic pass into the workforce. Businesses do need to be encouraged to employ. Business confidence needs to be boosted and encouragement given for those employers to recruit employees back into the workforce as economic conditions improve.

Businesses and employers have to be encouraged to sign up to taking on these job seekers once they have completed this training. Again, the Rudd government has failed to define how it will achieve this. The Rudd government has indeed failed to define a clear pathway between training and job. The opposition is obviously not opposed to training, but we do believe that it is only one element in assisting someone to get a job. As I have said, the opposition does not oppose the supplement, but we do believe that it is critical to demonstrate how it will lead to employment.

Young people can find it particularly hard to obtain employment during a time of economic downturn. The 15 to 24 age range is hard hit, and the second part of this bill proposes to remove qualification to youth allowance for those aged 15 to 20 years who are unemployed and looking for full-time work. It amends the participation requirements for these young people, requiring them to either earn or learn to be eligible for youth allowance. The opposition obviously supports any measures that will re-engage youth, and therefore supports this approach. Over the last 12 months we have seen the number of teenagers who are not in full-time education or employment increase from 205,500 to 244,800. In economic downturns, as I mentioned, youth unemployment does increase proportionately.

The coalition supports the offer of training for young Australians who wish to gain additional skills. However, I must repeat that training itself will not help reduce youth unemployment. Providing training and education can certainly boost employability, but it cannot guarantee employment if there are no jobs to give. If there are no jobs then training should not be used as a ploy to keep the unemployment figures down. The opposition will watch carefully over the labour force figures, particularly the figures on youth unemployment. It is important to keep people engaged in the workforce, to keep job seekers actively looking for employment and to encourage business confidence so that they will employ these job seekers.

Sadly, the track record of this government has been one where they have taken a car door to business confidence and consumer confidence. We recall all too well straight after the 2007 election and through 2008 when the government were talking down the economy and when the government were axing business and consumer confidence by talking of inflation genies escaping from bottles. There is no doubt that that led to a slowing of growth in Australia before we started to feel the effects of the global financial situation. Sadly, that has resulted in unemployment rising higher and faster than it need to have done so, so I certainly hope that the government have learnt their lesson from 2008. When you are in a responsible position, as a Prime Minister or a Treasurer, you have a particular responsibility to talk about the strengths and the positive fundamentals of the Australian economy. I would urge the government to adopt that tack because when you are a government, when you are a Prime Minister and when you are a Treasurer, language certainly does matter.

In conclusion, the Rudd government should not be attempting to distort and manipulate unemployment levels by pushing people who would otherwise be actively seeking work into training in order to claim income support payments. We want to see an official employment rate which is truly reflective of the number of people who are employed and the number of people who are not employed in Australia. We as an opposition support anything which can assist people who are seeking work to get better trained and to be more employable, but we would urge the government to be positive about the fundamentals of the Australian economy and to not seek to use this measure to in some way mask the true unemployment rate.

Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the government’s Social Security Amendment (Training Incentives) Bill 2009, which implements the Compact with Young Australians, and to indicate that the Greens will not be opposing the legislation. While we have indicated that we will support the bill, the government must assure the young people of Australia that the additional training places announced by COAG on 30 April will provide young Australians with skills to match the jobs of the future. Given that we are beginning to see the need to transition our workforce into a low-emission economy, the government must ensure that the Jobs and Training Compact with young Australians is directed towards investing in sustainable jobs for the future. Let us not make this just work for the dole for young people. The Greens are concerned that the message that the youth compact sends is not necessarily the right approach to encourage young people of Australia to get education and training. Rather, it demonises them and plays into the outdated stereotype that suggests that all young people are lazy. At a time when young people are under increasing financial pressure, students and those in guaranteed training places need to be better supported if they are to stay on and excel in their chosen path.

As I mentioned earlier, at the COAG meeting on 30 April the Commonwealth, states and territories agreed to a Compact with Young Australians. The aim of the compact is to ensure that every person under 25 is able to access an education and training place. The government is framing it as if all young people will have an entitlement to an education or training place for any government subsidised qualification. Participation in education, training or employment will be compulsory for all young people until they are 17. To support the participation requirement, this legislation is proposing to change the eligibility for Youth Allowance so that young people under the age of 21 who have not completed year 12 or an equivalent level of education must be in full-time study or complying with the terms of an employment pathway plan before they are considered eligible for youth allowance. Those who have not completed year 12 or an equivalent qualification will need to participate in full-time training of 25 hours a week in order to receive the youth allowance, essentially  playing into the earn or learn argument. This amendment has effectively ensured that an early school leaver will now not be eligible to receive youth allowance (other) simply by actively seeking and being willing to undertake suitable paid work, as was originally permitted.

To exclude access to youth allowance for those aged 15 to 20 who have not completed year 12 or its equivalent and for those who are not undertaking full-time education or training is a radical policy that does not necessarily address problems associated with youth unemployment. For some young people, it is simply not possible to attend training courses or further education studies or to obtain solid employment, especially if they do not know where they will be sleeping each night. What about a young person who has been in trouble at school and is unable to attend any of the schools in their area, and is therefore not able to secure any work? Will these people be punished? What about young people who, despite not being able to attend school, cannot find the suitable 25 hours paid work but who are volunteering their time or gaining work experience? Will these people be able to access youth allowance? I would like to think that this provision does not exclude encouraging young people to volunteer in their communities, especially as a way of upskilling and gaining experience to take into their futures.

What we need to see is a commitment to the bigger picture, and an assurance of a continued safety net for homeless young people, with a commitment through the Compact with Young Australians to safe and decent housing. That should be addressed by the government as a bare minimum requirement, acknowledging community calls to tackle housing affordability for young Australians. We know that in the 2006 census it was revealed that more than 32,000 young people in Australia were homeless, which suggests that there is a danger that many will be further disadvantaged by this earn or learn policy, unless of course we can find a way of ensuring that they are not disadvantaged. To simply take away financial support from a young person who is not in full-time study or training without consulting with individuals concerned and key stakeholders is ill thought through policy. I would encourage the government to outline what assurances will be provided to guarantee that vulnerable young people are not further disadvantaged by this compact.

Minister Gillard has accepted that there are young people living in difficult circumstances such as homelessness, and has stated that:

… with creative provision of education, they can be back, back learning, back gaining self esteem and self respect and back gaining opportunities that are going to make a difference for the rest of their lives.

While this statement is encouraging, what we need to see is a solid commitment to continued safety for homeless young people through extending the proposed compact for young Australians to include guaranteed access to safe and decent housing. Minister Arbib, you would have to agree that it is pretty hard to stay in school or keep a job if you do not know where you are sleeping at night.

In my home state of South Australia, only last week we saw figures suggesting that, despite the overall fall in jobless numbers in South Australia, the level of youth unemployment jumped by 7.7 percentage points, up to 24.9. That is one-quarter of young workers unemployed. These figures are clearly disturbing, and we will be watching with interest to see whether the youth compact can address these issues for these young unemployed effectively. I hope that they do. Aside from the concerns we have for vulnerable and disadvantaged youth, the Greens and many in the youth sector are also concerned that the compact must offer relevant and engaging training, not just any place, anywhere, any time, for young people. As I said, let us not just make this work for the dole for those under 25. The Greens are by no means opposed to committing to an increase in training and education places—in fact, we welcome that. But we believe that this compact must be targeted and tailored to the individual needs of young people, ensuring that the path they choose to take—whether university, TAFE, apprenticeships or work experience—is an option that they are able to pursue.

The National Union of Students also expressed concerns over the message that the changes to youth allowance send to young people, arguing that young people simply stripped of their youth allowance payments are being unfairly categorised as dole bludgers. What the Greens would like to see is a commitment to increasing the fortnightly rate of youth allowance. I spoke about that this afternoon in this chamber. We need to see an investment in the amount that we give to young people to financially support themselves.

This compact was forged seemingly without any substantial dialogue with young people or the community sector and the fact that a key component of the legislation includes the withdrawal of benefits for young people not learning or earning means the government must outline how young people under 21 will no longer receive youth allowance because of these proposed changes. We need to ensure that we are not undermining the benefits of giving people more educational and training experiences by punishing them because they are in difficult circumstances. So, while the Greens support the government’s commitment to increasing training and education places, we will be watching with interest how this legislation is rolled out, in particular whether the training and education places match the needs of young people.

Supporting our youth is essential during a time when unemployment levels are on the rise, and we know that it is youth unemployment rather than other employment that is larger in all of the stats. It is becoming more and more difficult for young people to make ends meet. It is fundamental for the government to actively support its young citizens and encourage them to remain engaged and active in society and in the labour force, and the Greens will continue to look closely at the changes to youth allowance under this legislation to ensure that young Australians are not unfairly penalised and further disadvantaged. I will have some questions during the committee stage which I hope the minister can answer.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Fifield and Senator Hanson-Young for their comments and also for their support in not opposing the amendments in the Social Security Amendment (Training Incentives) Bill 2009. This is something that the Rudd government and the Labor Party is passionate about. We all remember the 1990s and the hardship that young school leavers and many young people felt in unemployment and the disadvantage they experienced, and that takes years and years to overcome. As the new Minister for Employment Participation, I am passionate about helping young people through the difficulties of the global recession, but I am also 100 per cent committed to trying to ensure that young people who have fallen into long-term unemployment and who are disadvantaged are helped as much as possible during these times not just with training but with training that prepares young people and provides a pathway into employment and not just Work for the Dole schemes but real jobs which give them employment well into the future. You only need to talk to young people who are unemployed, looking for work or who have just found a job to understand how important it is to their self-esteem, how important it is to their confidence and how important it is to their livelihood. It is not just about financial security. It is about who they are as an individual, and these become the building blocks for us as a society and for families. This is something that the government and I will be focused on during the hardships of the global recession. I therefore thank the senators for their comments.

Moving into some of the detail of the amendments, the temporary training supplement will provide an extra $41.60 per fortnight to people who are among the most vulnerable to long-term unemployment, recipients of Newstart and parenting payment who have not completed year 12 or an equivalent qualification. The training supplement will be paid to around 50,000 eligible recipients who commence an approved course between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2011. To qualify, eligible Newstart or parenting payment recipients will need to undertake an approved Certificate II to Certificate IV course that is included in their employment pathway plan. This is a plan between the job seeker and their employment service provider that outlines the activities that they will undertake to help them move into work.

In this economic climate it is crucial that retrenched workers can access income support, training incentives, training places and employment services. The targeted practical assistance that the training supplement will provide to help with study costs builds on the $1,158 training and learning bonus introduced by the government earlier this year. The training and learning bonus provides substantial financial support and study incentives for unemployed people who undertake approved training over the period 1 January 2009 to 30 June 2010. To be clear, people who receive the fortnightly training supplement may also receive the training and learning bonus. This combined assistance provides a substantial incentive for job seekers to undertake training to get the skills they need for sustainable, long-term employment.

In addition to these payments, the government is providing $4.9 billion over three years for Job Services Australia to help job seekers move into paid work. Some $300 million has also been committed to ensure recently retrenched workers get access to immediate intensive support with their employment services provider to find another job. The government has made it easier for retrenched workers to access immediate income support by relaxing the liquid assets waiting period so that people do not have to deplete nearly all of their savings before they can commence getting income support. Through the Productivity Places Program, job seekers have access to more training places to help them gain qualifications from Certificate II to Certificate IV level.

The second measure in this bill will introduce new participation requirements for young people without year 12 or the equivalent qualification in return for receiving youth allowance. This measure is about proactively addressing the risk of high and sustained youth unemployment in this economic downturn. The changes to youth allowance (other) in this bill will assess young people against new learn or earn participation requirements until they complete year 12 or an equivalent qualification. It is important for us to remember the lessons from the recession of the early nineties, which clearly demonstrated—and I did make this point—that early school leavers and young people with low skills are often the most disadvantaged during a downturn and subsequent recovery. Young people without year 12 or an equivalent qualification are particularly vulnerable to becoming unemployed or being on the long-term job queue.

The changes to youth allowance (other) in this bill will ensure that more young people remain in study or training until they complete at least year 12 or the equivalent—if they have the capacity of course. This measure is not about penalising unemployed young people. There will of course be safeguards for young people who have complex needs or who may have only a partial capacity because of work or parental responsibilities. Arrangements for young people will be flexible and young people with substantial barriers, such as homelessness or substance abuse, will be offered alternative ways to comply with their requirements.

These new arrangements are part of a coordinated strategy between the Australian government and other jurisdictions through the youth compact. Through the Council of Australian Governments, all states and territories have agreed to establish a compact with young Australians which will entitle every Australian under the age of 25 to an education or training place and encourage them to attain higher qualifications and to apply the skills necessary to play a productive role in Australia’s economic recovery. This strong and decisive leadership by the Rudd government has been welcomed by a range of stakeholders, including the National Welfare Rights Network, which has described the youth compact as having ‘the potential to save a generation of young people from a bleak future of long-term employment and poverty’.

The training incentives bill provides a much needed incentive for people to continue to train and learn during periods of downturn and to be skilled for the recovery ahead. The measures in this bill will provide timely and targeted assistance to improve long-term employment outcomes, protecting vulnerable Australians from the full effects of the global recession. The government is determined to position Australia to maximise the benefits of the economic recovery by investing in skills to equip income support recipients to actively participate in the workforce when the economy recovers. I commend the bill to this house and urge all senators to support the bill.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.