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

I ask that general business notice of motion No. 1172, standing on the Notice Paper in my name, be taken as formal.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no objection.

Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

():—by leave, I move:

That notice of motion No. 1172 be amended by removing the words 'punitive and' in the first line of paragraph (b).

Question agreed to.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Siewert, before we proceed, could you please move your motion.

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

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) on 5 October 2018, the Federal Government confirmed that the evaluation of the Community Development Program (CDP) had been completed,

  (ii) in response to a motion passed by the Senate for an order for the production of documents, the Government confirmed that the evaluation of the CDP was in the process of finalisation and that the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet was still engaging with the fieldwork component of the evaluation and would, therefore, not release the document publicly,

  (iii) on 26 October 2018, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs confirmed that in August 2018 the Indigenous Evaluation Committee had received a finalised version of the report but that it had not yet been sent back to communities for consideration, and that there was no timeline in place for when the final evaluation would be released publicly, and

  (iv) publicly available and independent evaluations are an important tool for assessing and making evidence-based decisions in social policy;

(b) acknowledges that the CDP is a discriminatory work for the dole regime that disproportionately impacts First Nations peoples, and resulted in millions of dollars being stripped away from people already living in poverty since it commenced in July 2015; and

(c) calls on the Federal Government to abandon the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Community Development Program) Bill 2018 as there is strong stakeholder opposition to the Bill, and members of Parliament have not been given an opportunity to analyse the CDP evaluation and consult with First Nations peoples and stakeholders.

Question agreed to.