Politics in the Pub Event - Welfare: A Fair Go - July 10th

Welfare Rights Centre has teamed up with New Farm Neighbourhood Centre to present a debate on Australia’s welfare system as a part of their Politics in the Pub events.

Welfare: A Fair Go? will be held on Wednesday July 10th from 6 – 8pm.

Come along and listen to a panel from a range of backgrounds discuss the issue; AND put in your own two cents worth.

This is certain to be a lively debate and one that has been lacking to date in the current election campaign.

Join the Discussion!

Politics in the Pub is held at The Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm QLD 4005: Click here for a map

Welfare Rights continues to fight to raise Newstart Allow

On Wednesday 22nd May, Welfare Rights Centre Director Georgina Warrington spoke at a function to promote the ongoing campaign to raise the Newstart Allowance. The event was organised by the Queensland Greens and featured speakers from the WRC, Salvation Army, Single Parents Action Group and Larissa Waters, Greens Senator for Queensland.

On the weekend I was browsing through the latest edition of the Financial Review’s magazine, Smart Investor, as one does. Actually I didn’t get past the editorial, so struck was I by what I read.

The editor excitedly discussed a report from research house Investment Trends which has looked into the growing number of high-net-worth investors in Australia and their attitudes towards growing and safeguarding their wealth. Here’s what got me thinking:

After defining ‘wealthy’ as individuals with more than $1 million in investable assets outside the family home, the research report says the number of Australians in this category rose by 48 per cent, to 370,000 over the past five years….. it’s remarkable that there are more Australians with $1 million at their disposal than there are residents of the NSW city of Wollongong.

What is perhaps even more interesting is that, aided by a healthy tailwind in equity markets and generous superannuation arrangements, the number of investors with $2.5 million or more rose by 56% over five years to 130,000 – the most pronounced growth in any bracket (Australian Financial Review, Smart Investor, June 2013).

Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, the people on whose behalf we are here today, the 826,000 Australians on Newstart and other Allowance payments, are somehow getting by on around $35 a day; and presumably not feeling an urgent need to garner tips on future-proofing their retirement funds from the Smart Investor.

Five years back, in 2008, there were 399,400 people on Newstart in Australia. There are currently 682,000, an increase of 58% - a similar percentage growth to that of the people with over $2.5 million in investable assets.

I should point out that, here, representing the Welfare Rights Centre, I’m in no way advocating the politics of envy. This is unproductive and interminable – there’s always going to be someone who is better off to feel jealous of. However, the Welfare Rights Centre believes in looking facts squarely in the face and, where the facts show that things affecting our clients are unfair and unjust, saying so and wherever possible, offering solutions. After all, as we know, the essential first step to finding a solution is acknowledging that there is a problem.

The Welfare Rights Centre is a community legal centre, specialising in social security and also disability discrimination. In operation for 30 years, we provide information, advice and representation, via telephone, to people all over Qld, up to Townsville. We believe that people are better off in paid work than on welfare, however for those who are unable to work, there should be an income support system which allows them to live in dignity and to participate in the social and economic life of their communities.

The justification for keeping unemployment benefits way below the level of pensions – the argument that it is just a stop-gap for while a person is between jobs – clearly hasn’t been supported by the facts for some time now. Currently, of the 682,000 people receiving NSA, 45% have been on this payment for over two years. Even more concerning 1/5 of these people have been on NSA for over 5 years. There’s nothing in-between or stop-gap about these figures. This is long-term grinding poverty and hopelessness.

At WRC, we know that our clients on allowance payments are stuck in a never-ending cycle of ‘robbing peter to pay paul’, assessing which is the lesser of two evils – not pay the rent or not pay the electricity bill? Concerningly, and understandably, choosing not to buy medications is a frequent consequence of this ‘either-or’ situation.

Many of our clients report having mental illness; they are well aware of the consequences of not adhering to their treatment programme, however, when faced with the choice of keeping my accommodation or keeping on with my treatment, which option to pick is clear.

Apart from the great distress to the person concerned, the rest of the community pays for the consequences of such forced choices. E.g. the average cost of a public hospital admission in Queensland is $4,500, while the average cost of one week’s crisis accommodation for one person is $1000.

So, what’s to be done? Unlike our clients surviving on Newstart Allowance, Australia as a nation does have a real choice. Not between the lesser of two evils, but between holding on to all that we’ve got – and every man/woman for themselves - or sharing a little of it around. Between continuing down our path of growing inequality in which we blame the unskilled for their stubborn inability to fit into our changing economy, or offering them employment services that are adequately resourced to assist them to participate in that economy, along with a reasonable level of income support until they are able.

There is a hard-headed economic side to this too. When we have the Business Council of Australia stating that NSA is so low it entrenches people in poverty and acts as a barrier to recipients getting back into the workforce, we know that this issue is not just of concern to the soft-hearted and idealistic.

Anyone who’s been reading the volumes of federal budget analysis over the past week will be aware there are possibilities for tightening tax loopholes and breaks. For example, ACOSS, of which the Welfare Rights Centre is a member, identified around $6 billion in potential savings in its budget submission.

The options are there, ultimately, the selection of preferred options depends upon an assessment of the consequences, not just as regards effectiveness in terms of raising our most disadvantaged out of dire poverty but also in the ballot box.

This is where we need governments to take a lead and remind the community that the true measure of the value of a civil society is how well we care for the less fortunate. Raising Allowance payments would be a good start.

Budget falls short

While the Budget commentators and experts are still busily dashing off their opinion pieces, community workers are busily getting on with the work that continues to stream through the door. Our 575,000 children living in poverty may not be able to pontificate on the relative advantages or disadvantages of Australia being one of the lowest-taxing nations in the OECD, but they would have strong opinions on the relative advantages or disadvantages of not being able to afford to join their mates on school excursions or in the local football club.

There is much to welcome in this budget, in particular the funding for DisabilityCare (formerly NDIS), education reform and improved access to dental services.

Sadly, for so many of our clients, nothing was done to lift over 90,000 people out of dire poverty by raising the level of Newstart and the other allowances. The rest of us can only begin to imagine what it must be like to be living in such constrained circumstances, in a nation whose economy is the envy of most of the OECD. To be told yet again, “We can’t afford you”.

On 16th May, a small step was made towards addressing this shameful situation: the House of Representatives passed the Australian Greens motion, declaring that the rate of Newstart Allowance is too low. Now that this fact has been formally acknowledged in words, we very much look forward to some action.

Budget Choices

Last week’s decision by the Federal Government not to implement the planned modest rise to Family Tax Benefit Part A (providing a low-income family of one child with an extra $300 per year, families with two or more children with an extra $600 a year) says a lot more about how the Government believes voters value the importance of supporting low-income families than it does about harsh economic realities.

Anyone not living in a media blackout is now well aware of the huge revenue shortfall and of the pressure to keep the deficit to the minimum possible. Plus, this FTB rise was slated to be funded from mining tax revenue which we all know has also turned out to be hugely less than anticipated.

So, savings need to be made, the question is from where? There are many options being discussed, varying from cancelling fuel tax credits which would predominately hit mining companies, to restoring the indexation of the fuel excise, which would hit everyone. From restoring taxes on superannuation payouts, which would predominately hit higher-income earners, to expanding GST to include food, which would hit everyone. The list goes on. Ultimately, the choice of preferred options depends upon an assessment of the consequences, not just as regards effectiveness in terms of revenue increases but also in the ballot box.

Back to the decision not to raise FTB. ACOSS’s (the Australian Council of Social Services) budget submission argues for a restructure of the whole family payments system to ensure that it is directed towards its original purpose – to protect children from poverty. In their submission they identified around $6 billion in savings from tightening up tax loopholes. They also drew attention to an issue governments are very coy about – ‘middle-class welfare’ – with their proposals on how to tackle what they more subtly refer to as ‘poorly targeted spending programs and tax-offset breaks’. WRC is a member of ACOSS, through our peak body, the National Welfare Rights Network, and we endorse their submission.

While politicians bicker about who is to blame for our economic underperformance, there are 575,000 children living in poverty in Australia, the nation that is the envy of most of the OECD. Tough decisions need to be made, but should these be at the expense of those who are already at the bottom? This is where we need governments to take a lead and remind the community that the true measure of value of a civil society is how well we care for the less fortunate.

Expansion of Income Management in Logan and Rockhampton

Assisting young people or undermining autonomy?

From July 1st 2013, the “Vulnerable Welfare Payment Recipient” (VWPR) measure of the income management program, operating in Logan and Rockhampton, will be expanded to apply automatically to young people who are granted the Unreasonable to Live at Home rate of payment by a Centrelink social worker; to those who are under the age of 16 and granted Special Benefit by a Centrelink Social Worker; or are under 25 and granted a crisis payment due to prison release.

Previous to this change, Centrelink Social Workers could assess individuals as “vulnerable” and meet with them to discuss a range of options to assist them, for example Centrepay or financial counselling.

Income management is a program in which a part of a person’s Centrelink payment is withheld and can only be used for “priority needs” such as housing, food and clothing. The program does not reduce the total of payments from Centrelink. It changes the way recipients receive and may use these payments.

Welfare Rights Centre believes this new measure unreasonably targets young people and undermines personal responsibility. Even if the young people are already effective budgeters, they will not be given the opportunity to demonstrate this, while others won’t have the opportunity to learn to manage their own affairs.

Georgina Warrington, Director of the Welfare Rights Centre said: “The assumption that welfare recipients, and, more specifically, that young people cannot manage their money is erroneous. Living on as little as $29 per day (or $38 if receiving Rent Assistance**) requires astute money management skills”.

The introduction of this new measure also takes discretion away from Social Workers at Centrelink to decide on a case by case basis who may actually be vulnerable to budget stress and discuss a range of options with them, not merely the quarantining of funds.

The appeals process for the VWPR as it has been operating to date is outlined below. It is unclear whether these processes will be available to individuals subject to automatic income management. Welfare Rights Centre will provide details as they become available.

Appeal process:

• Individuals can ask the Social Worker to reconsider their circumstances at any time (a request for consideration can only be made every 90 days). Individuals must demonstrate how their situation has changed from when they were placed on income management.
• Standard Centrelink appeals processes can be followed and an Authorised Review Officer can look at the decision to put an individual on income management in the first place.
• For more information see our fact sheet Income Management in Qld – Overview Fact Sheet available at: http://www.wrcqld.org.au/resources/fact-sheets.html

** Amounts based on current Youth Allowance rates for a single person living away from home

Working single parents kicked � The Australian

WRC is now hearing of harsh consequences of the January changes to Parenting Payment – reports from housing services of families who are losing their homes because they can’t afford the rent. This article from The Australian looks at the figures behind the rhetoric.

Working single parents kicked

• by: Maree O'Halloran, President of the National Welfare Rights Network (NWRN)

• From: The Australian

• March 06, 2013 12:00AM

CUTTING the income support of some single-parent families may have helped the federal budget into the black in May last year, but at what cost?

According to a Senate estimates answer, close to a staggering 60 per cent of the 67,221 parents affected by cuts that came into effect on January 1 were already combining sole parenting with working part time or casually.

Those parents are the ones who suffered the greatest financial penalty, losing up to $120 a week.

Working single parents suffered the biggest hits because of the poor design of parts of the social-security system.

First, the Newstart allowance is paid at a much lower rate than the parenting payment. Second, a person on the Newstart allowance can have only $31 a week of other income before the allowance starts to reduce. That's less than two hours of a casual shift at the minimum wage.

By contrast, a single parent could earn $87 a week plus $12 for each child before their parenting payment started to reduce. Combined, the final result is that parents juggling casual or part-time employment with sole parenting responsibilities got kicked.

Both the government and the opposition voted for the cuts, perhaps wilfully or perhaps in ignorance of the effect on the ground. They also voted for the cuts in the absence of any real increase in employment assistance that would benefit the affected parents.

Now the surplus has been relegated to its proper place in the economic cycle and the government seems to be arguing that it was OK to cut the income support of this group of parents because another group had been cut by the Coalition government in 2005. It's all about consistency now; that is, consistency with a policy that members of the current cabinet opposed vociferously when in opposition. Yet, from the release of the Henry review into Australia's future tax and transfer system in May 2010, the evidence was in about the inadequacy of the Newstart allowance.

Before consigning a new group of parents to that inadequate payment, the government could have improved the rate of the allowance and the indexation and increased the number of hours a person could work at the minimum wage before the allowance started to reduce. By so doing, the government also would have helped the parents still doing it tough because of the 2005 cuts. The changes on January 1 did include one small improvement for all single parents who need the Newstart allowance, by reducing the rate at which the allowance is taken away once a parent earns $31 a week.

Helping people into paid employment is one of our most important national goals, as is lowering structural unemployment.

The 2013 budget should: increase the single Newstart allowance payment by $50 a week, recognising that it is insufficient support for those looking for work, including single parents, people with disabilities, mature-age workers; increase the "income free" area of $31 a week so that people who gain casual shifts are not unfairly punished; and increase employment assistance.

Maree O'Halloran is the spokeswoman for National Welfare Rights.

Changes to Parenting Payment - Centrelink Communications Plan

From January 1st 2013, recipients of Parenting Payment who had previously been able to remain on Parenting Payment until their youngest child turned 16, will only be eligible to receive it until their youngest turns six if they are partnered, eight if they are a single parent.

Centrelink has begun a communications campaign to inform affected families of the changes. Individuals impacted by this change can expect a call from Centrelink inviting them to complete a telephone interview to discuss these changes and to complete a Newstart application. If individuals do not apply for Newstart Allowance before January 1st 2013, they WILL NOT transition to the payment automatically and may no longer be in receipt of any income support.

Parents who qualified for Parenting Payment prior to July 2006 were eligible to stay on the payment until their youngest child was 16, with activity requirements beginning when the youngest turned 7. This change to payments ends Grandfathering provisions, bringing this group into line with recipients who were granted the payment after July 2006.

People calling Centrelink to enquire about changes will be informed that they will receive a call from a local team who will conduct a telephone interview to discuss the changes to their payments and if any additional assistance may be available. Clients viewed as vulnerable will be encouraged to attend a face-to-face interview.

Parents who have declined to have an interview will be sent information that outlines the changes and will be sent a further notification advising them of the imminent cancellation of their parenting payment in mid-December.

Many of the individuals affected by this change will find themselves on a lesser payment with harsher limits on how much they can earn before their payment is affected. Welfare Rights Centre Qld put a submission into the Senate Inquiry investigating these legislative changes. To read our submission please click on the following: http://www.wrcqld.org.au/docs/welfare-rights-centre-qld-sub-to-fair-incentives-to-work-bill-2012.pdf

Anti-Poverty Week: One in eight people living in poverty

Anti-Poverty week runs from 14th – 20th of October and aims to increase awareness and debate about the issue of poverty in Australia. Welfare Rights Centre is participating in QUT’s anti-poverty events at their Kelvin Grove and Gardens Point campuses.

ACOSS has released a report highlighting the persistent problem of poverty in Australia showing that 12.8% of people are living below the internationally accepted poverty line used to measure financial hardship in wealthy countries.

The following is taken from the Australian Council of Social Service Press Release:

The report provides the most comprehensive picture of poverty in the nation since 2006 and shows that people who are unemployed, children (especially in lone parent families), and people whose main source of income is social security payments, are the groups most at risk of poverty.

“This report reveals that despite years of unprecedented growth and wealth creation, we have made little ground in combatting the scourge of poverty with 1 in 8 people overall and 1 in 6 children living below the poverty line,” said ACOSS CEO, Dr Cassandra Goldie.

“In a wealthy country like Australia, this is simply inexcusable.

“Over a third (37%) of people whose main income is social security is living below the poverty line, including 52% of people in households on Newstart Allowance. The low level of this payment means that when unemployment goes up as it did last month, more people are thrown into poverty. The Newstart Allowance has not been increased in real terms since 1994 so households relying on it have been falling further behind community living standards and into poverty.

“Two thirds of people on Newstart have been unemployed for more than a year and they clearly need more help than they are getting now from employment services. The Government only funds Job Services Australia providers an average of $500 to $1,100 a year to invest in training and work experience for this group.

“The report also shows that there are almost 600,000 children living in families below the poverty line. About half of those children are in sole parent families, and one quarter of people in sole parent families are living below the poverty line.

“This makes the Federal Government’s recent cuts to payments for sole parents all the more disturbing. Under the changes passed in the Senate last week over 100,000 sole parents on the Parenting Payment will be between $60 and $100 a week poorer from January 2013 when those with children over eight years of age are dropped to the lower Newstart Allowance.

“On the other hand the $32 per week increase in pensions (above inflation) in 2009 appears to have reduced poverty among older people (which is 13.2% for people over 64), though the single pension rate was still slightly below the poverty line. Unfortunately the increase to the Age and Disability Support Pensions was not extended to sole parents on the Parenting Payment and people on Newstart Allowance, which is an alarming $74pw below the poverty line.

“We urge the Commonwealth and state governments to take steps in their next Budgets to reduce poverty, by increasing income support for those in the deepest poverty, strengthening employment services for long-term unemployed people, and easing the high cost of housing for people on low incomes who rent privately.

“High priority should be given in the next Federal Budget to raising the Newstart Allowance by $50 per week for single people and sole parents, and the cuts to income support for sole parents should be reversed or at least delayed.

“Paid work is a key pathway out of poverty, and we need to see more investment in wage subsidies and training for people who are long term unemployed to make a difference to their job prospects. This should be implemented to stop recent increases in unemployment from becoming entrenched.

“To tackle poverty we also need urgent action to ease housing cost pressures, particularly for low income people who are renting privately. People on social security and those in very low paid work receive Rent Assistance to help with housing costs, but at a maximum of $70 a week this is less than a third of typical rents for flats in capital cities and mining towns.

“At the start of Anti-Poverty Week, ACOSS is calling on the Federal Government to finally commit to a national development goal to reduce poverty in Australia. Prominent Australians such as Professor Fiona Stanley, Ms Janet Holmes a Court, philanthropist David Morawetz, The Reverend Tim Costello, and many others are joining us in this call. We need an agreed measure of poverty, such as the Australian National Development Index, and we need to annually measure our progress towards reducing poverty.

“It is simply unacceptable that so many people are still going without the basics and the sorts of opportunities the rest of us take for granted. A wealthy country such as ours can and should do better to ensure that everyone is afforded an adequate standard of living. It is a fundamental human right,” Dr Goldie said.

Key findings:

• 2,265,000 people (12.8%) were living below the poverty line
• 575,000 children or 17.3% were living below the poverty line
• 63% of people in unemployed households were below the poverty line
• 25% of people in lone parent households were below the 50% poverty line
• 37% of people in households whose main income was social security were living below the poverty line.

Among people in households where the main income earner received the following payments, the following proportions lived below the poverty line, after taking account of housing costs:

o Newstart Allowance, 52%

o Parenting Payment, 45%

o Disability Support Pension, 42%

o Carer Payment 24%

o Age Pension, 14%.

62% of people below the poverty line came from households with social security as their main source of income, but a sizeable minority (29%) were in households with wages as the main income source.

This 29% figure is due to the higher number of wage-earning households overall. It is likely that most of these people live in households where people receive part time earnings only, or are raising children on a low wage.

• 14% of women were below the poverty line compared to 12% of men
• 54% of people living in households below the poverty line were female compared to 46% male
• 26% of adults living in households below the 50% poverty line came from a non English-speaking country
• The level of poverty was higher (13.1%) outside capital cities than in capital cities (12.6%)

The proportion of people in poverty rose by approximately a third of a percentage point from 2003 to 2010 but it is difficult to compare poverty levels over the long term due to changes in the various ABS surveys.

Support the Campaign for a Stronger Community Legal Sector

Did you know that over 80% of the people assisted by community legal centres earn under $26,000 a year?

Community Law Australia is a coalition of community legal centres (of which Welfare Rights Centre is one) that are campaigning for access for all Australians to the law, regardless of financial or social circumstances, or geographic location. CLA is also campaigning for greater investment in early intervention to prevent legal problems from arising, or getting worse and requiring court proceedings.

Get involved in the campaign by going to: http://www.communitylawaustralia.org.au/

Or joining their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CommunityLawAustralia

If you have been assisted by a community legal centre, write to your State and Federal MPs to let them know how the assistance has supported you and ask for more funding to be provided in your community.

Australian Community Sector Survey highlights unmet need for legal services

The 2012 ACOSS Community Sector Survey Report has been released and it has identified the greatest areas of need for people experiencing poverty and disadvantage are access to housing and mental health services. This was followed by access to legal services.

The survey found that 73% of legal services were unable to meet demand for their services, with over 10,000 people turned away.

The Australian Community Sector Survey (ACSS) is the only annual national survey collecting data about the non-government, non-profit community services and welfare sector. It surveys the community sector and this year was completed by 665 organisations.

If you are interested to know more about the community sector and the challenges of delivering services in Australia (particularly in light of the current funding environment), have a look at the full report:

http://www.acoss.org.au/images/uploads/ACOSS_ACSS2012_FINAL.pdf

Senate Inquiry into the Adequacy of Income Support Payments

An inquiry into the adequacy of payments has been called. Submissions are due on the 3rd of August. If you have any experience or an opinion on the issue, make a submission!

The terms of reference are:

The adequacy of the allowance payment system for jobseekers and others, the appropriateness of the allowance payment system as a support into work and the impact of the changing nature of the labour market.

(a) the adequacy of the allowance payment system for jobseekers and others, with particular reference to the adequacy of the Newstart Allowance payment as an income support payment for jobseekers and the adequacy of all other allowance payments that support a range of recipients who study or provide care;

(b) the appropriateness of the allowance payment system as a support into work, with particular reference to:

(i) the effectiveness of the payment as an incentive into work,

(ii) the effectiveness of the allowance payment system in facilitating transitions between working and other activities, such as studying, caring and retirement, or in the event of illness or disability, and in helping or hindering recipients to overcome barriers to employment, and

(iii) the impact of the differences between pensions and allowances on the transition between working and other activities; and

(c) the impact of the changing nature of the labour market, particularly the rise of insecure work and decline of unskilled jobs, on the:

(i) nature and frequency of individual interaction with the allowance payment system, and

(ii) over and underpayment of allowances to recipients.

For more information please go to the inquiry website: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate_Committees?url=eet_ctte/newstart_allowance/info.htm

Qld Government Ends Involvement in Welfare Quarantining Program

The SEAM program (Improving School Enrolment and Attendance through Welfare Reform Measure) which links welfare payments to school attendance will be abandoned in Queensland.

The program, operating in Logan and the remote indigenous communities of Doomadgee and Mornington Island, has improved school attendance by 5% according to Federal Minister Jenny Macklin, and should be persisted with.

The Queensland Government Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek says it has not been effective and other state government funding such as providing breakfast and guidance officers can provide sustained attendance results.

SEAM is designed to encourage parents to make sure their children are attending school by providing both Centrelink social work support and the threat of welfare payments being cut.

Budget 2012 - A call to spread the benefits

The National Welfare Rights Network of which Welfare Rights Centre Qld is a member, have joined 12 other community services organisations to ask members of parliament to oppose the changes to parenting payment which will see 100 000 single parents lose some or all of their income support….

The letter encourages members to support the announced supplementary allowance, but also to support a $50 per week increase in payments as argued for by an increasing amount of stakeholders.

Please see the attached letter which was sent to all federal government members for full information.

Letter to federal MPs PDF (406.23kb)

Federal Budget 2012 - Spreading the benefits?

In his budget speech, the Treasurer declared that "this Budget redirects and prioritises spending to convert a more productive economy into a fairer community as well". Unfortunately, the Government has missed the opportunity to be fair to those who are the most disadvantaged: jobseekers on Newstart Allowance and Youth Allowance

The recent ACOSS “$35 a day is not enough” campaign received widespread support from the welfare and the business sectors and trade unions. The inadequacy of Australia’s payments to jobseekers has received international attention. In 2010, the OECD warned that our unemployment benefit is already so low as to raise “issues about its effectiveness” in supporting people who are unemployed and helping them get into paid work.

The extra allowance announced to be paid to a single jobseeker (and also those on Austudy and Parenting Payment) equates to $4 per week, or a couple of loaves of cheap bread. ACOSS, of which WRC is a member organisation, asked for an increase of $50 per fortnight.

If we are serious about moving the unemployed into paid jobs, we need to make sure that jobs are available. In the meantime, we need to provide social security payments at a level sufficient to allow a person to live in dignity and to be able to afford to go out and seek paid work.

Changes to social security payments include:

Supplementary Allowance

• Recipients of a variety of allowances including Newstart, Youth Allowance, Austudy and Parenting Payment will receive an allowance of $210 a year for singles or $350 a year for couples. The allowance will be paid twice a year from revenue redirected from the Mineral Resources Rent Tax

Liquid Assets Waiting Periods

• Currently, people applying for allowances can be subject to a 13 week waiting period if they have more than $2500 (singles) or $5000 (partnered or single with dependent child). These thresholds will be doubled to $5000 (singles) or $10000 (partnered or single with dependent child) from July 2013.

Family Tax Benefit Part A

• From 1 January 2013 the maximum age of the dependent child for FTB Part A eligibility will reduce from 21 to 17, or to the end of the calendar year in which they turn 19 if they are still completing high school.

• From 1 July 2013 the maximum rate of FTB Part A will increase by $300 per annum for families with one child and by $600 for families with two or more children. For families receiving the base rate the increase will be $100 per annum for families with one child and $200 per annum for families with two or more children.

Travelling Overseas (Portability of Payments)

• From January 2013 rules will be tightened for people who travel overseas while in receipt of income support payments and family assistance. Individuals will now only be able to continue receiving their payments for six weeks, down from 13 weeks before potentially having their payments cancelled. This will impact on a wide range of payments including Disability Support Pension, Youth Allowance, Carer Allowance and Family Tax Benefit.

• People on Age Pension and Disability Support Pension assessed under the new rules as having no future work capacity will not be affected.

Age Pension Qualification and Living Overseas

• From January 2014, to qualify for the full aged pension, a person must have spent 35 years of their working life in Australia. This is a change up from 25 years.

• People already living overseas on 1 January 2014 will be grandfathered and able to maintain their current 25 year base for calculating their age pension. Some additional exclusions and changes apply.

Parenting Payment Changes

• From January 2013, grandfathering provisions will end and people who are the principal carer of a child will be shifted to Newstart Allowance when their youngest child turns 8 (or 6 if they have a partner). Currently people who have been in receipt of Parenting Payments since before 2006 have been able to stay on the higher payment until their youngest child turns 16.

• From January 2013 the income test for single principal carer parents on Newstart Allowance will be more generous. The taper rate will drop to 40 cents in the dollar on incomes above $62 a fortnight (this is a change from the current 50c in the dollar for incomes up to $250 and 60c in the dollar incomes over $250 per fortnight).

Senator Living on Newstart Allowance

Rachel Siewert and the Greens have launched their “A Better Start for Job Seekers” with Senator Siewert attempting to live on the equivalent of the Newstart Allowance for a week:

“The Newstart Allowance paid to unemployed Australians is simply too low.

Today, the single rate of Newstart is $244 a week – that’s just 45% of the minimum wage and is more than $130 under the poverty line.

On average, recipients are forced to live on less than $17 a day after they’ve paid their rent.

That’s less than $17 a day for all other expenses, including utilities, transport, food, personal care and job-seeking; and doesn't leave scope to save for other major expenses such as car license and registration renewal, replacement white goods or a health crisis.

The Greens want to make considered changes to the system in order to help people find a job quicker and rely less on income support. To achieve this, we are seeking a $50 per week increase to Newstart, retaining the incentive to work but helping hundreds of thousands of Australians avoid the poverty trap. We are also seeking to improve the capacity of employment service providers, allowing them to work more intensively with job seekers and make it easier for people to find work.”

This initiative adds weight to the “Fair Go for all Australians” ACOSS Campaign that is advocating for an increase in allowance payments for the unemployed.

This campaign seeks to

1. Raise Newstart and other allowances by $50 per week, as recommended by peak welfare bodies, the Australian Council of Social Services and the National Welfare Rights Network;

2. Index all allowances to the higher of either average male wages or the Consumer Price Index, in line with Pension payments;

3. Improve employment service providers’ ability to work intensively with disadvantaged job seekers

Senator Siewert is blogging about her daily experiences.

For more information on the Greens campaign please go to their website:

http://rachel-siewert.greensmps.org.au/newstart

For more information on the ACOSS campaign please go to their campaign page:

http://www.acoss.org.au/take_action/allowances_statement_2012-02/

ACOSS has launched a campaign to get Allowance payments increased by $50 per week and raise the assistance available to the unemployed to get a job. JOIN THE CAMPAIGN NOW.



ACOSS is calling all interested individuals and organisations to sign their statement which calls for an increase in Allowance payments by $50 per week. These payments include Newstart and Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment, Widow Allowance and Abstudy. In addition they are advocating for:

• Improve employment services for long term unemployment people – The JSA system should be reformed to make it more responsive to the needs of individual job seekers and employers, including by increasing the resourcing of Job Services Australia providers.

• Expand wage subsidy schemes ‐ Double the number of places in the new wage subsidy scheme for long term unemployed people to 20,000 in the program’s second year, and introduce a scheme that fully subsidises up to 6 months of paid employment for the most deeply disadvantaged jobseekers (including through social enterprises).

• Make VET work for jobseekers ‐ Earmark a substantial number of training places under the new national VET scheme for jobseekers, together with new incentives and resources for training organisations to adapt training to the needs of jobseekers and work more closely with employment services.

• Lock in supports for jobseekers in deeply disadvantaged areas ‐ In areas of high and entrenched levels of unemployment, the Government should negotiate with States and Territories to supplement funding for employment, health, housing and community services to encourage them to work together to build pathways to employment for those with multiple social disadvantages.

To participate in the campaign go to the website below:

http://www.acoss.org.au/take_action/allowances_statement_2012-02/

New Centrelink Initiative � �Helping Young Parents� Program

As from January 1st 2012, there are participation requirements for teenage parents who are on Parenting Payment. The Department of Human Services has introduced the “Helping Young Parents” program in Logan and Rockhampton and 8 other locations across Australia. The program aims to encourage Parents in receipt of Parenting Payment aged 19 years or under to continue their schooling to Year 12 Certificate or Certificate II level and better support their child’s development.

Teenage Parents will be required to attend six monthly interviews from when the child turns six months old to discuss educational options and goals and to link in with local services which can assist them with managing both parenting and studying. This may include assistance with payment of child care while parents are studying.

These young parents will be required to enter into a Participation Plan which details the education and other activities agreed to in interviews.

If these parents fail to participate in interviews, their payments may be stopped until they re-engage with the program.

For more information, please click on the link below to Centrelink’s fact sheet:

http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/filestores/8559_1211/$file/8559_1211.pdf

For the Australian Council of Social Services comment on the initiative please click on the link below:

http://www.acoss.org.au/media/release/young_mums_need_support_not_a_crackdown

We have moved to new premises in Fortitude Valley.

Our phone & fax numbers are the same as before:

• Advice Line: (07) 3847 5532
• Free Call: 1800 358 511
• Admin Line: (07) 3421 2510
• Fax: (07) 3421 2500

Our postal address is:

PO Box 293

Fortitude Valley Qld 4006

Dealing with Employment Service Providers

These new pages, containing a wealth of information on dealing with Employment Services Providers, are accessible via the “Employment Services” link on the top bar menu of our home page.

This information will help you understand how Employment Services operate and how you can get the best out of your time with them.

If you need more help to understand the system or you have a problem with your Provider that you need some advice about, you can also contact the Welfare Rights Centre Telephone Advice Service on 07 3847 5532 or 1800 358 511 (from outside Brisbane only).

Carbon Tax Compensation

The Welfare Rights Centre is concerned that those surviving on the lowest incomes - the unemployed and students - will receive considerably less compensation than others.

The Welfare Rights Centre welcomes the measures to protect those on low incomes from the rise in cost of living which will result from the introduction of the carbon tax. However, we are concerned that those surviving on the very lowest level of income – the unemployed and students– will receive considerably less compensation than others.

A person on Newstart Allowance (paid to the unemployed) currently receives $237.45 per week of income support payment, while a person on a Pension (Aged, Carer’s or Disability Support) receives $335.45 per week, plus up to $29.20 per week in the Pension Supplement. That difference will now be extended, as Newstart recipients will be entitled to $218 per year in carbon tax compensation, while Pensioners will be entitled to $338; $120 more than those who are already on a much lower level of payment.

We are puzzled as to why the Government has further entrenched the difference in payments between Pensions and Allowances at a time when it has said it is determined to ensure that the cost of the carbon tax will not impact unfairly on those who can least afford it.

The Welfare Rights Centre welcomes the new budget measures to encourage businesses to employ those who are very disadvantaged in the jobs market: the long-term unemployed, those with a disability and the over-50s. We also welcome the training measures to improve the vocational training provided through TAFE colleges.

With reports of businesses finding it impossible to fill vacancies on the one hand and talkback about the “work-shy” on the other, it is easy to conclude that all these people need to do is to switch off the TV and go get a job.

Such simplistic analysis ignores the fact that around ½ of our job-seekers have not completed high school, while our pool of unskilled jobs is ever-dwindling. It also ignores the sad reality experienced by clients of the Welfare Rights Centre that if you are disabled or over 50, employers are simply not interested in taking the risk. Those with caring responsibilities are also disadvantaged in the jobs market, as there is a lack of suitably flexible employment opportunities.

Closing the gap between the skills of jobseekers and the requirements of employers is fundamental if Australia is to reduce its numbers of unemployed. Some of our disadvantaged job-seekers will be able to “skill up”. For the others, if Australia wants them to be in paid work, we have to accept the fact that this will only happen if we are prepared to fund the increased costs that businesses will incur as they provide on-the-job training and/or adapt their employment practices to offer more flexible work options.

Change to eligibility requirements for New Zealanders

From 26 February 2011, New Zealand citizens who hold a Special Category Visa and arrived in Australia after 26 February 2001 will be able to access a once only payment of Newstart Allowance, Youth Allowance or Sickness Allowance. More information here.

To be eligible, a person needs to have lived continuously in Australia for at least 10 years.

A temporary absence such as a holiday can be included in the 10 years, but any break during which the person ceases to reside in Australia will restart the 10 year clock.

If eligible, payment of Newstart Allowance, Youth Allowance or Sickness Allowance can be made for up to six months.

Where a person loses qualification within the six month period, their payments will be stopped and cannot be restarted. It is not possible to transfer between payments in the six month period.

Date of effect: 26 February 2011

Flood Relief Payments

1. Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment

• A one-off payment.
• $1000 per adult.
• $400 per child <16yrs.

Eligibility:

You may be eligible for the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) if you:

• are aged at least 16 years, or
• are receiving a Centrelink income support payment, and
• are adversely affected by a major disaster.

“Adversely affected” is about serious injury, harm or damage to property.

Residence criteria:

You must be:

• an Australian resident, or
• an Australian citizen who is not an Australian resident and who is covered by a determination made by the FaHCSIA Minister, or
• the holder of a visa that is in a class of visa determined by the FaHCSIA Minister to be eligible.

New Zealanders:

• As of 31^st January, Special Category Visa holders who were affected by the flooding will be able to claim the AGDRP.
• You must have been working here for the past 3 years.

Claiming AGDRP

• Can claim online
• Fill in a claim form, you can get this by :
  • phoning Centrelink’s emergency hotline number 180 22 66
    • visiting your local Disaster Recovery Centre where you can lodge a claim
    • ^· visiting your nearest Centrelink Customer Service Centre or Agent

Evidence required

• Need to provide evidence of damage / medical treatment.

Time limit

• Claims must be completed and lodged before 4 July 2011.

Proof of identity

• Is required.
• If you have lost the relevant documents because of the disaster, CL will “help to work out another way of proving your identity”.

2. Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy

• Equivalent to the maximum rate of Newstart Allowance.
• For:
  • employees
  • small business persons
  • farmers
• Continues for 13 weeks.

Eligibility

You will be eligible for the Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy if you:

• derive an income from an area affected by the disaster or reside in an area affected by the disaster; and you
  • are 16 years of age, or older, and are not a dependent child;
  • are either an Australian resident and living in Australia for the period he/she is receipt of the Subsidy; or a foreign national, living or working in Australia at the time of the disaster and for the period of time he/she is in receipt of the Subsidy;
  • have experienced a loss of income as a direct result of the disaster and can show evidence supporting this within 28 days; and
  • are not currently (at the time of lodgement) receiving another income support payment.

• Where a member of a couple, you must qualify in your own right.

Proof of Identity

• Before you can get paid, you (and your partner if he/she is also claiming) may need to show Centrelink one document showing:
  • Proof of Birth or
  • Proof of Arrival in Australia,
  • or, any other approved documents that add up to the value of 50 points, for example, driver’s licence (40 points), bank card/statement (40 points), Medicare card (20 points).
  • If you cannot provide this immediately, you should lodge a claim without delay and provide the supporting documents to Centrelink within 28 days.

Supporting evidence

You will also need to provide evidence supporting the claimed loss of income within 28 days of claiming, for example,

• pay slips from an employer,
• bank statements showing previous bank deposits from an employer,
• a letter from the employer,
• BAS statements,
• income tax returns,
• or other account documents identifying cash flow.

If you have difficulty in obtaining this information, contact Centrelink on 180 22 66.

Claiming

• Forms available

• on-line
• at local Centrelink
  • at evacuation / Recovery Centre

• Can make on-line claim
• Telephone claim – 180 22 66.
  • Need to complete and mail a ‘self declaration form’, along with supporting documentation.

Time limits

• Need to claim by 28 February 2011.

Other Assistance

Other assistance, such as a Low Income Health Care Card, may be available. Contact Centrelink on 180 22 66.

WRC is moving

As of Thursday 1^st September, our postal address will be:

PO Box 293

Fortitude Valley Qld 4006

Our internet and email access should only be disrupted on the 29^th – 31^st August; we hope to be back on line the 1^st September.

Our phones and faxes may be disrupted for up to 2 weeks.

• We have requested that our existing telephone numbers be redirected; however, we are uncertain when this will take effect.
• We have not yet been given our new phone numbers.
• In the meantime, if the matter is urgent, we can be contacted on the following mobile number:
  • 0434 332 199

Due to the problem with the telephones, it will take us some time to respond to enquiries. We apologise for the inconvenience.

We will upload our new phone numbers as soon as we are able.