Patrick Dodson (WA, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Reconciliation) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Coronavirus and Other Measures) Bill 2020 and I move:

At the end of the motion, add: ", but the Senate:

(a) notes that:

  (i) since the start of the recession, the number of people relying on unemployment payments has doubled,

  (ii) many pensioners—including those on the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment—have faced increased costs during the pandemic, and

  (iii) the Minister has the power under the Social Security Act to extend the Coronavirus Supplement; and

(b) calls on the Government to:

  (i) extend the $250 per fortnight Coronavirus Supplement until March, in line with JobKeeper,

  (ii) better support pensioners—including Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and Carer Payment recipients—facing increased costs in protecting their health because of the coronavirus pandemic, and

  (iii) announce a permanent increase to the base rate of the JobSeeker Payment".

Labor is incredibly disappointed by the government's announcement today that the coronavirus supplement will be cut by $100 a fortnight from Christmas. At the same time, as the government's own figures show, 1.8 million people will be relying on unemployment payments by the end of the year—300,000 more people than the government initially projected. The unemployment crisis is getting worse, not better.

Labor does support this bill, because it will help many Australians, particularly in the context of the recession. But it doesn't go far enough, and it leaves too many people behind. That's why Labor has moved a second reading amendment. The amendment notes that since the start of the recession the number of people relying on unemployment payments has doubled; that many pensioners, including those on the age pension, the disability support pension and the carer payment have faced increasing costs during the pandemic; and that the minister has the power under the Social Security Act to extend the coronavirus supplement. It calls on the government to extend the $250 per fortnight coronavirus supplement until March, in line with JobKeeper; to better support pensioners, including age pension, disability support pension and carer payment recipients, who are facing increased costs in protecting their health because of the coronavirus pandemic; and to announce a permanent increase in the base rate of the JobSeeker payment.

Labor will also be moving more detailed amendments along these lines—reasonable, responsible, detailed amendments which will give the government the flexibility to better support Australians in need. Ultimately, there can only be change if the government decides to do the right thing and support that change in the House of Representatives.

Today, the government announced that it will cut the coronavirus supplement by $100 a fortnight by Christmas, and we can only assume it reverts to the old Newstart base rate of around $40 a day in March. There are seven people on unemployment support for every vacancy. The reality is that there are simply not enough jobs for everyone who needs one. Withdrawing support too soon will only make the recession deeper and longer than it needs to be. Labor's view is that the supplement should stay in place, at the current rate of $250, until at least the end of March, in line with JobKeeper.

Our amendments ask the government to consider doing the right thing by those facing a cruel Christmas cut in the coronavirus supplement, by those who are unemployed and by those who rely on the disability support pension and the carer payment. This bill seeks to implement a number of coronavirus support measures, which Labor has been calling for since the onset of the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, Labor has consistently advocated that additional supports were needed for pensioners, for expectant parents who risked missing out on paid parental leave, for students whose families could no longer afford to support them and for families who lost a child to stillbirth or before their first birthday.

While we commend the government for finally coming around to adopting some of these important measures, the government's budget has left far too many Australians behind. By the end of the year, 1.8 million Australians are expected to be on unemployment support. That is one million people more than at the end of 2019. The budget provides no certainty as to what support would be available to them after 31 December. The report today that the coronavirus supplement will be extended at a reduced rate does little to alleviate ongoing anxiety for this group. It is so easy to say these big numbers, but think about what it means to 1.8 million people, each with their own story of loss and uncertainty, each keeping a household going, whether on their own or with others, and each relying on us in this place to stand by them in their time of need. Almost one million of these Australians have been excluded from the government's wage hire subsidy simply because they are over 35.

The Prime Minister says we're all in this together. But too many Australians, people with disabilities, carers, aged pensioners and those who have lost work, have been left behind by this government. We know that older Australians have been the hardest hit by this pandemic. None of us will forget the devastating impact the coronavirus had as a result of the government's neglect of our aged-care system. Older Australians faced increased spending from the extra precautions they had to take to protect their own health, buying hand sanitisers and protective masks, paying a premium to have groceries delivered.

The government has contributed to rising costs through a combination of the pension freeze, that took effect in September, its unrealistic inflated pension deeming rates and the inflated interest rate that it charges pensioners to access equity in their own homes. Our pensioners worked hard all their lives. They contributed and paid their taxes. They deserve our respect. They do not deserve a pension freeze at a difficult time. Like older Australians, people with disabilities are disproportionately vulnerable to infection and have also incurred additional costs to keep themselves safe. Even before the pandemic, People with Disability Australia said that Australians with disabilities have the second highest relative risk amongst the OECD nations of living in poverty. The pandemic has only exacerbated this disadvantage. In June we saw the release of a survey from People with Disabilities Australia, which found nine in 10 people with disabilities experienced increased expenses due to the ongoing pandemic, 31 per cent reported increased spending on health care, and one in five reported increased spending on sanitiser and hygiene products. The government's freeze on the pension in September also impacted three-quarters of a million Australians on the disability support pension and almost 300,000 Australians on carer payments. The freeze came at the worst possible time, in the middle of Australia's most severe economic contraction in a century.

The time for the government to deliver a permanent increase to the base rate of unemployment payment is long overdue—$40 a day is simply inadequate for anyone to live on. Labor is joined by business groups, community groups, economists and even members of the government in acknowledging this fundamental fact. This morning the chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, Jennifer Westacott, told ABC Radio about the government's announcement today. She said:

… it's a bit of a relief, but it's no solution Fran. We need a permanent solution here, a permanent increase for this allowance … we need an allowance that gives people a dignified life that does not see them fall into incredible poverty, where they will not be able to get back into the labour market. We need the skills system to wrap around the many people who find themselves in JobSeeker. But my point is simply this why shouldn't unemployed people have the same certainty and predictability instead of living from three months to three months, and get a decent, adequate allowance that allows them to live lives of dignity.

The government should listen to this person. The government should show some understanding and compassion for those Australians on unemployment support by delivering a permanent increase to JobSeeker.

Instead, the government seems intent on blaming Australians who have lost their jobs. It's absolutely clear that there are simply not enough jobs for everyone who needs one. Anglicare found in a recent job snapshot that there are more than 100 people looking for work for every entry-level position. What's more, we know that Australians receiving social security spend on local and small businesses, which in turn means local and small businesses have more to spend on wages and jobs. When you cut unemployment support, you jeopardise jobs. If the government withdraws support too early, it will make the recession deeper and longer than it needs to be.

This bill will adjust eligibility for paid parental leave through amending the work test requirement. During the height of the pandemic, Labor expressed concern that families would miss out on paid parental leave because of lost work due to the temporary shutdown of business activity. In June, we moved amendments in this place for the work test to be suspended, but the Morrison government voted them down. It is disappointing that it has taken the government this long to respond and adopt Labor's proposals. It has been an excruciating wait for so many families, and we are certain and concerned that many families will end up with a family tax benefit debt because of the government dragging its feet. We're also concerned that this temporary change in the work test will end in March next year, meaning new mums who lost their jobs when JobSeeker was changed in September could again miss out on paid parental leave.

Labor support this bill—and we don't want to hold it up, because it will deliver additional support to millions of Australians—but it is a missed opportunity to help older Australians and Australians with a disability meet the costs of protecting their health in this pandemic and it's a missed opportunity to announce a permanent increase in the base rate of unemployment payments, which we know are far too low. To this end we hope that the government will seriously consider Labor's reasonable and responsible amendments. I hope you'll be able to do the right thing.

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

I rise to speak to the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Coronavirus and Other Measures) Bill 2020. This bill makes a number of important changes in the social security space. While we don't oppose these amendments, we believe that this bill does not go far enough in terms of supporting people through the coronavirus crisis.

Schedule 1 provides two additional economic support payments of $250 to around five million Australians receiving social security payments and veterans payments and concession card holders. This includes people receiving the age pension, the disability support pension, the carer payment, the carer allowance and the family tax benefit and holders of the Commonwealth seniors health card and the pensioner concession card. The payment will be made from 30 November this year and 1 March next year.

By providing a small amount of additional income, this measure clearly recognises that many Australians from all walks of life continue to need assistance and recognises the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and the recession. It goes a small way towards providing disabled people, families, carers, pensioners and veterans with some extra support. While of course additional economic support payments are welcome, they just don't go far enough.

I'm concerned by the approach that the government have taken in terms of who they extended and paid the coronavirus supplement to, who they thought needed that and who missed out. For example, disability support pensioners and carers have undoubtedly faced extra costs, which I have outlined in this chamber on numerous occasions, and they have lost work through the crisis, yet they have missed out on the coronavirus supplement. Likewise, carers missed out on the coronavirus supplement.

It's clear to me that the government didn't look at all the available data in designing this policy. Those on the disability support pension and on the carers payment and age pensioners, particularly those receiving Commonwealth rent assistance—and they are clearly doing it tough because they're in rental accommodation—did not receive those extra payments. That doesn't adequately address the costs that people on the disability support pension, carers and age pensioners have to deal with during the pandemic. Therefore, while the two additional $250 payments are welcome, in our opinion they don't meet the needs of disability support pensioners and carers, particularly when you consider that the report that the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations did last year on the costs of people living with disability showed that those on the disability support pension still have $100 of additional costs a week and those living with disability who are not on the disability support pension have extra costs on top of that that they struggle to meet.

One of the policy measures neglected in this bill and in the October budget was providing ongoing support for those who are on the JobSeeker payment and youth allowance. This would have been an ideal opportunity for the government to announce a permanent and ongoing increase to the JobSeeker payment and youth allowance, so that people on those payments are not left in a state of uncertainty and anxiety about their future. But today we learnt that the government is further cutting the coronavirus supplement. I foresee here and now that the minister will come in here and say, 'We haven't cut the coronavirus supplement payment because it was going to end on 31 December.' But, make no mistake, the government have cut the supplement.

They've rectified their deep error in the budget by not extending the coronavirus supplement from December to March. Although they're not going to announce a permanent increase to JobSeeker, at least they have now announced that they are going to extend the coronavirus supplement. But they are taking another hundred dollars off people. The initial cut of $300 dropped people below the poverty line and this cut drops people even further below the poverty line, as we come into Christmas. That is unacceptable. I urge the government to reconsider these plans and to, at the very minimum, retain the coronavirus supplement at its current rate of $250 a fortnight. That's why I will be moving second reading amendment that addresses this government's failure to adequately support people on the JobSeeker payment. The government is projecting that 1.8 million people will be unemployed at the end of this year. Those people are being left to work out what they're going to do after 31 March. At the moment, all they can assume is that they'll be back on $40 a day, because the government made no commitment in their announcement today or in the budget to increase the Newstart payment.

The government could have dealt with this issue in this bill. That's why I foreshadow that I will move a second reading amendment that notes the government's failure to provide for people on JobSeeker payment, notes that 2.3 million Australians receiving the coronavirus supplement are still in the dark about the future of the supplement next year, notes that the coronavirus crisis isn't over and that unemployed and underemployed Australians will continue to need support during 2021, and calls on the government to announce its plans regarding ongoing support and to announce a permanent and ongoing increase to the JobSeeker payment and youth allowance so that the base rate of those payments is above the poverty line.

The government plans to throw 1.8 million Australians on the JobSeeker payment and youth allowance below the poverty line at the end of the year. In the opinion of the Greens, this is mean-spirited and unfair. It doesn't even make economic sense. Instead of supporting these people, the government has chosen to reinstitute mutual obligation requirements and go ahead with its plans to expand compulsory income management—talk about slapping people when they're down. Yesterday Minister Cash almost gloated that there have been nearly a quarter of a million suspensions of payments to those on JobSeeker and/or youth allowance. Those suspensions have occurred in the short period since mutual obligation was reintroduced, on 25 September, and now. This government has gone back to its old ways and continues to demonise people on the JobSeeker payment. At the exact same time as there is a crippled labour market with limited job opportunities, the government decides to go back to its old way of doing business.

I'm extremely concerned about reports from financial counsellors who fear that millions of Australians will turn to credit and payday lenders once the moratorium on rental evictions ends and income support payments are cut. The government's plan to wind back responsible lending practices will only serve to make things worse for those on low incomes and those who have lost their jobs.

Noting these deficiencies, I would like to move to schedules 2 and 3, which are focused on supporting future youth allowance recipients. Schedule 2 temporarily amends the independence criteria for youth allowance recipients. Currently, if you're younger than 21 years old you need to meet the independence test to qualify for youth allowance. One way you can do this is by working an average of 30 hours a week for at least 18 months within any two-year period. Under this measure, the period between 25 March this year and 24 September this year will automatically contribute to a person's workforce independence criteria for youth allowance. I welcome this change as it recognises that a huge number of younger Australians have lost work or have been unable to find work as a result of the pandemic. Between March and September, employment for people aged 15 to 24 years fell by nearly 150,000, or 7.7 per cent. People in this age group also experienced the largest increase in their unemployment rate. It has now increased to 14.5 per cent. I will be watching the impact of this measure closely to see if it adequately supports young people who are disadvantaged as a result of the recession.

Schedule 3 also relates to youth allowance. This schedule creates a temporary pathway that seeks to encourage young Australians to undertake seasonal agricultural work in return for qualifying for youth allowance (student). Under this scheme, a young person will need to earn $15,000 through employment in the agriculture industry between 30 November this year and 31 December next year to be considered independent for the purpose of youth allowance. Future Abstudy recipients will also be able to take advantage of the scheme, with changes to be made to the policy manual.

When I asked the department at estimates how many people would take up this demand-driven program, they said they expected it had potential to support about a thousand people. This doesn't seem a substantial number to me, and I hope more people do take this up. In order for this scheme to work, young people, particularly city young people, will need some support to move to the bush to take up this opportunity, and I urge the government to put in place the necessary supports to ensure the scheme works and to encourage people to take it up. They also need to make sure that young people aren't exploited through this process. We've all heard the horror stories of exploitation and low hourly rates that are eaten up by so-called accommodation and other fees. I urge the government to make sure that any shonky dealers out there don't take advantage of this. That is not, for one second, to say that there aren't very good people who properly support young people in fruit picking and other parts of the agriculture industry. It is critical that the government has structures in place to ensure young people can take advantage of this scheme and are well protected and that it is a good experience both for young people and for the agriculture sector.

Schedule 4 relates to important amendments to the paid parental leave scheme. These amendments will ensure that time spent on JobKeeper payment will count towards the paid parental leave work test for parents. They also temporarily extend the paid parental leave work test period from 13 to 20 months to ensure parents can qualify even if they have lost their jobs.

Schedule 5 introduces a single rate of payment that parents of stillborn babies will be able to receive, irrespective of whether it is their first or subsequent claim. Can I say, it is well beyond time this occurred. I can't imagine how it happened otherwise in the first place. I understand that my colleague Senator Waters is going to further elaborate on these important changes.

Finally, schedule 6 allows the minister to determine alternative figures to be used in place of the male total average weekly earnings—commonly known as MTAWE—trend figures for the purposes of child support assessment calculations. For the first time, the ABS has temporarily suspended publication of the MTAWE trend figures due to the impact of COVID-19. This measure allows the minister to determine alternative figures through a legislative instrument. I understand this is a technical amendment that needs to be made in order to determine the costs of children, which underpin administrative child support assessments; however, we hold concerns about the lack of detail and guidance around what the minister needs to examine when generating alternative figures.

This bill as it currently reads simply states that the minister needs to make a determination by legislative instrument which must be tabled before parliament and is disallowable. This is a significant amount of discretion and latitude when determining these figures. I will be seeking assurances from the minister during the committee of the whole that the minister will take into account previous trend data and have regard to the various costs of children when determining alternative trend data.

As I mentioned earlier, the Greens will support these changes but recognise that they don't go far enough. Disappointingly, we have witnessed another budget that lacked vision for the social and community services sector and for the future of our social security system. We need to reform our social security system so we better support Australians across the country to ensure their wellbeing and their futures. This opportunity has been missed in the budget and we urge the government to outline its plans to support millions of unemployed Australians through significant investment in JobSeeker.

Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Coronavirus and Other Measures) Bill 2020. The amendments are to provide additional COVID-19 support measures from the budget. These changes have taken too long to implement and have been issues which Labor has been advocating on for some time. This bill will provide for the payment of two further economic support payments of $250 to around five million Australians. These are welfare recipients who desperately need this money leading into Christmas and the new year.

Since the coalition handed down their budget, Labor has been calling on the government to give greater support to the almost one million Australians on JobSeeker who are not eligible for the government's wage subsidy. For pensioners who were struck with a cruel pension freeze a few weeks ago, this will allow some relief, as pensioners plan for their twice-yearly indexation. Up until now, they have been left in the lurch. These payments will come as some relief for those who receive the pension, the disability support pension or the carer payment and continue to face increasing costs in protecting their health because of the COVID-19 pandemic. These are the people who are more vulnerable to the coronavirus due to their reduced immune capacity. The amendments in this bill will mean that they are, in some way, compensated for the additional costs they have faced.

The bill will temporarily make amendments for circumstances in which a person may be regarded as independent for youth allowance purposes. This will assist young people who qualify for this payment. At the height of the pandemic, and in the time since, we asked the government to adjust the means testing for youth allowance so students wouldn't fall through the cracks. We were concerned that tertiary students would miss out on youth allowance and would be unable to afford to continue their studies. These are not ordinary times and we don't want to see students discontinuing tertiary education because they can't afford it. It's disappointing that the government has taken so long to act on this issue. It has been a long and anxious period for our students, especially now as some will face mounting debt as a result of this government.

This legislation will also create a temporary pathway to encourage young Australians to undertake seasonal agricultural work to help address concerns across the agriculture sector about workforce availability for the upcoming harvest season. The bill will introduce a revised paid parental leave work test period for a limited time to enable people to access paid parental leave and dad and partner pay who do not meet the current work test provisions because their employment has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost since the start of this pandemic and the JobSeeker payment started, Labor have called on the government to adjust the work test to ensure that parents who have been impacted by the COVID-19 recession and lost hours of work don't miss out on paid parental leave. The existing work test requires a person to have worked 10 of 13 months prior to the birth or adoption of a child and at least 330 hours in that 10-month period.

In June we moved amendments in the Senate for the work test to be suspended, but the Morrison government voted them down. Families need certainty.

Debate interrupted.