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

I present an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill and move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

Today I rise to speak to one of the most important priorities in my portfolio and to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that I meet and engage with every day in this job.

When I travel around remote Australia, I see people standing up and participating, building daily routine and establishing social norms.

Communities are strong when adults are engaged in work or meaningful activities that contribute to the benefit of their community.

Since its introduction in July 2015, the Community Development Program or CDP has improved employment and participation outcomes for remote job seekers. The CDP has supported remote job seekers into more than 26,200 jobs and on more than 8,800 occasions, they have stayed in a job for at least six months.

The CDP turned around the failings of the Remote Jobs and Communities Program which had replaced the successful Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) and allowed the return of the misery of sit down money and engagement dropped to just 7 per cent.

The CDP has worked because it ensures job seekers have real mutual obligation requirements and because communities are increasingly at the heart of the delivery of the program.

Job seekers tell me that they feel a renewed sense of pride, as people feel they are improving themselves, building a future and contributing to their community.

While the CDP is successfully getting job seekers off welfare and into work, I recognise that there are areas of the system than can be improved.

We have listened to the outcomes of the Senate Inquiry process, including the submissions and public hearings, where many stakeholders took the opportunity to voice their views and concerns, including the Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory. We have also taken on board the Australian National Audit Office's performance audit outcomes.

My Department released a discussion paper in December 2017, receiving 40 public submissions which provided a range of constructive views and suggestions. I have personally visited around 200 communities since becoming Minister, and I have heard what people want. The messages I am hearing are clear and consistent.

People are asking for:

I hear the consistent message that job seekers need to be engaged to ensure that there is a clear pathway to a job and that the misery of passive welfare does not return.

Communities want to bring back the best parts of the old CDEP. Well, the community spoke and we listened.

Community Development Programme reforms

On 8 May 2018, the Government announced reforms to CDP as part of the 2018-19 Budget.

The key changes to the program, include:

These changes will commence from February 2019 and will support local control and decision making through a more community based approach. We are strengthening community say in how CDP is delivered locally, by contracting with more Indigenous service providers and linking with local governance arrangements.

12 months ago I stood before Indigenous organisations and made a commitment that the CDP would be locally delivered. I must say, there was a fair amount of doubt from those in attendance. But we have delivered, and from July this year, Indigenous organisations now have to be involved in the delivery of CDP.

And importantly, the Government will also work with local communities to support 6,000 subsidised jobs across remote Australia. Providing access to real wages, and moving people off welfare and into work.

These will be jobs in community, identified by community and delivering for the community needs.

Housing managers, local government workers, community health support, teaching assistants, construction or aged care.

These jobs will only be available to CDP participants and will grow the size and capacity of the remote labour market and support the development of more local businesses.

The subsidised jobs package is part of a pathway to employment and will provide real workplace experience for job seekers, while also paying real wages. Job seekers will also continue to access support from employers and CDP providers to help them stay in a job for the long term.

These jobs will provide meaningful employment, and participants will be subject to the same pay and conditions that would otherwise be attached to that position. Many participants who are placed in these jobs will continue to qualify for a reduced rate of their income support payments after the applicable income test is applied.

Some of these participants may not have had a job before, or may have been unemployed for a long time, and may need additional support in making the transition into the workplace.

We want these participants to succeed in making the pathway to meet their career goals and aspirations. Which is why we are removing them from all the other requirements that would usually apply under social security law.

This subsidised job program complements what is in the legislation before the Senate today but will be at the heart of the CDP going forward and the pathway to a job.

Under the CDP going forward, there will be 6,000 remote job seekers being supported into a job at any time.

This is an exciting change and one that allows communities to support more jobs for locals. To ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not only engaged in work, but also more engaged in the delivery of services in their community.

The reforms build on the success of CDP to continue to drive employment in remote Australia by improving the skills and employability of job seekers, and increasing their participation through a greater range of work-like activities in their community.

The CDP Bill

The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Community Development Program) Bill 2018, will amend social security law to support the introduction of the Targeted Compliance Framework (TCF) in remote Australia, consistent with the arrangements across the rest of Australia.

Following the passage of this Bill, CDP participants will be subject to the TCF. This means that there will be one national job seeker compliance framework for all job seekers, both remote and non-remote.

The TCF commenced across jobactive, Parents Next and Disability Employment Services 1 July 2018. It will commence for CDP from February 2019, subject to the passage of this Bill.

CDP job seekers will see considerable changes in how they interact with providers and Centrelink.

The new TCF has additional protections for vulnerable job seekers, reduces interactions with Centrelink and builds in more check points to ensure all job seekers are fully capable of meeting their requirements. There will be a greater role for local CDP providers to work with CDP participants in the application of the TCF and there will be less interaction with Centrelink compared with the current framework.

The reforms will see a significant reduction in the number of penalties applied to CDP job seekers. The introduction of the TCF will remove penalties for one-off breaches of mutual obligation requirements. Financial penalties will focus on those who are persistently and wilfully non-compliant.

To assist CDP participants in meeting their requirements, mutual obligation hours will be reduced from up to 25 hours per week, to up to 20 hours per week, depending on a job seeker's assessed work capacity.

Alongside the application of the TCF, the reforms include a number of changes to increase the role of local health service providers to support participants in their communities.

Changes include provision for local health workers to supply evidence for the Department of Human Services to use when deciding whether to reduce a participant's mutual obligation hours.

The Bill also introduces specific exemptions for participants in subsidised employment, removing interactions with Centrelink and focusing on engagement with employers. Participants in subsidised employment will be exempt from activity test requirements and will not incur mutual obligation failures under the TCF. This seeks to emulate one of the positive aspects of the CDEP where participants were paid wages outside the income support system.

Entry into a subsidised job will be voluntary. Therefore, CDP participants who refuse an offer of subsidised employment will not incur a work refusal failure. This provides CDP participants with the freedom to determine whether the subsidised employment opportunity available suits their personal commitments, career aspirations, skills and experience. CDP participants will continue to have appropriate job search requirements as part of their mutual obligation requirements, as determined by their provider.

Similarly, participants in subsidised employment will not be subject to a work refusal failure if they refuse an offer of suitable unsubsidised employment.

Participants in subsidised employment will also not be subject to an unemployment failure if they voluntarily leave their position, or are dismissed due to misconduct. This approach provides participants with the opportunity to leave subsidised employment without penalty if, after commencement in the position, they determine the role is not suitable for them or their personal circumstances (for example, due to relocation or family violence). As each subsidised position is funded for two years, this will also free up the subsidised job opportunity for a job seeker who may be better suited to the role.

This Bill ensures the local community is at the heart of our remote employment services.

It listens to local views and local priorities, it will be delivered by local community organisations and it will ensure local job seekers are engaged, better supported and provided a clear pathway to a job.

Without this legislation, the Government will not be able to fully deliver the subsidised employment program as participants will still be subject to compliance under Social Security laws.

Without this legislation, CDP participants will continue to be subject to a different compliance model than the rest of Australia.

This legislation ensures remote job seekers have the support they need to move along the pathway to work.

Conclusion

The package of reforms to the CDP are in direct response to feedback from communities and will increase support to vulnerable job seekers in remote Australia, while providing more pathways to jobs. Moving more people off welfare and into jobs and improving outcomes across remote Australia.

I commend the Bill to the Senate.

Debate adjourned.