Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Disability and Carers) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to address the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Payments for Carers) Bill 2018. This bill will introduce an income test for the carer allowance and the carer allowance (child) health care card from 20 September 2018. The income test will be set at a threshold of $250,000 per annum, affecting approximately 6,900 or one per cent of carer allowance recipients. The minister has indicated that the government will be reinvesting these savings into the Integrated Carer Support Service. After consultation with stakeholders in the sector, including Carers Australia, who support this change, Labor has decided to support this bill. Children and Young People with Disability Australia have also indicated that they do not have an issue with the proposals in this bill, as the means testing of payments and healthcare cards is an established practice.

Carers Australia and other carer service providers have indicated that they have been working with the Department of Social Services to design a more integrated and nationally consistent model of delivering services to carers across Australia. Commitment to provide help to carers before they reach crisis point is vital. We do, however, hold concerns about the Integrated Carer Support Service reform, because not only is the total amount of funds allocated towards these services unclear but the implementation of the first phase has already been delayed from July to October this year, with the second phase to be rolled out by September 2019. It is not clear at this stage how the funding has been calculated nor how it will be allocated across the country. However, it is welcome that current providers have had their contracts extended until November 2019. Moving towards an early intervention model of carer support will help those who can access online and digital services, and it will help alleviate the burden of anticipated shocks. But it is unclear how the government, with its reliance upon online and digital services, will adequately service areas with poor internet connection or telephone services.

Labor continues to hear concerns from the sector that the total funding allocated to the Integrated Carer Support Service will fail to meet the needs of the carer community, especially as the Australian population ages and demand for carers increases. One of the concerns expressed is about the funding allocated to emergency respite, and the government is yet to clarify the funding available for this service. The ICSS must ensure that there is equity of access to services. There are 2.8 million carers across Australia, over one-third of whom provide 40 hours or more of care per week to people with disability, chronic or terminal illness or mental health challenges or who are frail aged. A 2015 Deloittes Access Economics report quantified that carers provide 1.9 billion volunteer hours of support, significantly boosting the health and wellbeing of Australians in need of assistance. Supports and services must meet carers' needs and expectations so that they are able to participate in the community and the workforce and look after their own wellbeing whilst continuing their caring role. Carer respite and a broad range of different carer services to suit Australians from diverse background will be essential for meeting the needs of Australia's growing carer demand. Labor will continue to advocate for appropriate support for carers, knowing the invaluable contribution they make each and every day to Australia.

Labor values the critical role that carers play in our society and understands how demanding it can be, personally, physically and financially. In 2009, it was Labor that increased the carer payment by $30 a week, and in 2014 it was Labor that opposed the Abbott-Turnbull plan to cut the indexation of the carer payment. If the government had succeeded in cutting indexation, the carer payment would have been cut by $80 a week over 10 years. Labor blocked this cut because it is Labor that stands behind the carer community. It is Labor that stands for adequate funding of carer support services. Many carers have not forgotten this cut and remain wary of any changes proposed by this government.

Nonetheless, Labor will be supporting this bill today. We support the introduction of the income testing set at the $250,000 per annum threshold for the carer allowance because it will, ultimately, lead to better services for carers through the introduction of the integrated carer support services. I commend the bill to the Senate.

Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I'm in the chamber, I'd like to take the opportunity to say a few words around this legislation, the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Payments for Carers) Bill 2018, and the broader topic. This period of the week, as all of us in this chamber know, is informally known as noncontroversial government business. That's an informal term which makes sense to us but which others listening to or reading this might think means that everybody agrees on all of this and there is nothing actually controversial about the topic matter. But, as the previous speaker made clear, there are certainly a lot of issues in this area, as to carers, about which there is concern and on which there is continuing pressure for better action.

Labor have indicated that they are supporting this legislation, so it will go through unamended. The legislation introduces a fixed and non-indexed family income test of $250,000 per annum for carer allowance and carer allowance (child) health care card only claimants, to apply to singles and couples from 20 September this year.

In that context, I want to take the opportunity to note the significant ongoing challenges that so many carers face. People across the political spectrum, in this place and the other place and everywhere around the community, will always make comments about how important and valuable the role of carers is, and how much carers are appreciated—and I'm sure all of those comments are genuine. But we do need to recognise that this legislation and all of the other commentary that people make around this issue occur in the context where there is growing inequality in our community and there are greater and growing pressures on a lower-income earner's ability to manage, in so many ways, whether from increasing energy costs, housing costs or transport costs et cetera.

There are carers in some circumstances—not all—who qualify for assistance through Centrelink for carers payments and healthcare cards and carers allowance, who often do have significant extra costs in relation to the care that they have to provide, as well as, of course, income-earning opportunities forgone, and other opportunities for life enhancement forgone which aren't necessarily measurable in terms of money or income. So they do make a significant sacrifice.

I want to take this opportunity to put on the record that those carers who perform that important role are often in circumstances where it is getting harder and harder. We talk time and time again about wage stagnation, growing insecurity in jobs, higher energy costs, higher housing costs and more instability or insecurity in people's housing, and about all of those other areas where it is getting more and more difficult for those who are not amongst the wealthiest. So it does need to be emphasised that this whole measure occurs within that wider context.

I want to take the opportunity to say something to anybody who is engaged with any aspect of support through Centrelink in the ongoing scandal. And it is a scandal, of not just inadequate but appalling service that people get when they try to get in contact with Centrelink. That is not a reflection on Centrelink staff; it is a reflection on the gross failure of this government, the previous government and the government before that. The problem has got worse and worse, as my colleague Senator Siewert and others in this chamber have said many times over the years. People who want to get in touch with Centrelink and related services for information will perhaps need to clarify how this measure we're passing today will affect them. It is incredibly difficult. We've seen the terrible decision of this government recently to contract out a supposed attempt to solve the disgraceful situation of the massive wait times or the massive call dropout rate that they have when they try to call Centrelink. A supposed solution is to contract out phone-answering roles to a private company—Serco, no less.

People who are on income support and all of the related entitlements that are attached to it have legal rights. They are people who have just as much of a contribution to make to our society. In particular, carers fit into that role. The Greens more broadly believe that we need to be looking towards universalisation of our social and income support services and recognising that we are part of a community where we are all interconnected, rather than continually trying to atomise people into individual groups and households and isolate them from each other, and then try to have them relate and engage with inoperative or poorly operating government services, such as what passes for service through Centrelink call centres today.

Whilst this legislation will pass today—and it is, in the grand scheme of things, perhaps a minor measure—it will affect some individual people. As I said, it all occurs in the context, whether it's carers or so many other people, where the level of support is not what it should be and not what citizens and residents of our community are entitled to. This is also in the context of the rollout of the NDIS. I won't divert too far from the topic of the bill by making a speech about the NDIS more broadly. I know that the government is working on it. I was at the start of an information session earlier today about how that is being rolled out. It's starting to roll out from 1 July in Brisbane—

Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator, you did indicate that you wouldn't stray into this area, but you seem to be straying into it.

Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The reason I'm mentioning it is that carers are very regularly, obviously, dealing with people who have disabilities and are engaging with the NDIS. This is a measure that affects carers at the same time as they are also having to deal with the changes in the NDIS. I'm simply saying that this is just another aspect of what people are having to deal with. Therefore, I think it's important to put on the record that individual pieces of legislation don't happen in isolation; they happen in the context of a whole suite of policy measures and in an ongoing situation of the very, very poor ability for people to get the information they need when they try to get it through places such as the Centrelink call centres.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the bill to the house.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.