Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the request of Senators Siewert and Cameron, I move:

That the following matters be referred to the Community Affairs References Committee for inquiry and report by 31 March 2019:

ParentsNext, including its trial and subsequent broader rollout, with particular reference to:

(a) the aims of ParentsNext, and the extent to which those aims are appropriate, having regard to the interests of participating parents, their children, and the community;

(b) the design and implementation of ParentsNext, including, without limitation:

  (i) the appropriateness of eligibility for compulsory and voluntary participation,

  (ii) the protocol for providers' conduct of Capability Interviews with participants,

  (iii) the design of participation plans, including the range of economic and social participation requirements,

  (iv) the selection of ParentsNext providers,

  (v) the interaction between ParentsNext, business, education and training providers, and health, community and social services,

  (vi) the effectiveness of the communication between:

     (A) participants,

     (B) the Department of Jobs and Small Business,

     (C) Centrelink, and

     (D) ParentsNext providers,

  (vii) the measures, if any, in place to avoid causing risk or harm to vulnerable participants and their children, including participants and children who are victims and/or survivors of family violence,

  (viii) the appropriateness of the aspects of the program specifically aimed at communities with high Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, and the appropriateness of the broader program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents outside target communities,

  (ix) the effectiveness of the program in supporting the long-term wellbeing of parents and children, and the longer term skills and earning capacity of parents, and

  (x) best practice pre-employment programs for parents;

(c) the appropriateness of the application of the Targeted Compliance Framework (TCF) to ParentsNext, and the impact of the TCF on participants;

(d) the oversight of ParentsNext, including:

  (i) the oversight of determinations of non-compliance, and

  (ii) the fairness and efficiency of any complaint handling processes, including protocols around changing providers; and

(e) any other related matters the committee considers relevant.

Question agreed to.