John Cobb (Calare, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Further Strengthening Job Seeker Compliance) Bill 2015. This is about government doing the right thing by the taxpayer, most certainly, but it is also about doing the right thing by those who are not taking the responsibility for themselves, their families and their nation as seriously as they might. At the end of the day, they are going to be better off—as are the country and taxpayer—if they are employed or seriously seeking to become so. This legislation does it through introducing more immediate consequences and stronger penalties for job seekers who fail to meet their obligations. The changes build on the no-show no-pay reforms introduced last year.

Since those changes taken last year we have seen more job seekers attending their reconnection appointments. The bill reaffirms the government's commitment to reinvigorating mutual obligation for job seekers in receipt of support income. In other words, it is doing the right thing by the taxpayer and the country, and it is our job to ensure that happens. The changes implemented ensure job seekers are doing their part and if they do not comply with their obligations they will now be held accountable for them.

Job seekers are obligated to enter into the Employment Pathway Plan. The EPP sets out a number of activities a job seeker must engage in, to become more employable, in return for income-support payments. It recognises that some people are not, in their current state, employable. It is not just about saying, 'Go out and get a job.' They are being helped, they are being urged and they are being assisted, but they have to play their part as well. Under this amendment, if a person refuses to enter into an EPP they will face penalties and payment suspensions. In addition, the job seeker may incur a penalty equivalent to a working day's payment for each day they continue to refuse without good reason. This is not without a safety net but it is there. The measure will act as a safeguard against people not properly engaging with the job search.

Under these changes, financial penalties will also apply to people failing to behave in an appropriate manner at an appointment. I think you can work out what that means. It means you actually have to try when you get there and not deliberately ruin it. Those who choose to behave badly during an appointment, without a legitimate excuse, may have a penalty amount deducted from their job seeker's participation payment. There is no value in a person attending an appointment when they deliberately undermine the purpose of it. It is about pushing responsibility onto the job seeker so they are held accountable for their actions. It will also see more immediate penalties for failure to participate in activities like Work for the Dole or job interviews.

Currently, the legislation only allows for penalties to be applied in future fortnightly instalment periods. That means it could take five weeks before it is applied. This will allow for penalties to be incurred in the current fortnightly instalment. Job seekers who are not engaging in an adequate job search will also be held to account and will face more timely penalties. Under the current system, a person may not be penalised for up to 14 weeks for ongoing inadequate job search. The compliance measures will see payments suspended immediately. Once they show that they have been putting in the effort and searching for employment, seriously, payments will be restored and they will even receive a full pay-back. It is not trying to make life unliveable, it is trying to do the right thing by the taxpayer—who funds people in this situation—and by themselves and their families, in the short and long term.

The bill will weed out those people who are taking advantage of our system. Genuine job seekers will remain supported and unaffected. Those job seekers who are offered a job and turn it down will also be subject to the eight-week non-payment period. If we expect society to support us, we have to do the right thing by society. In 2013-14, 78 per cent of eight-week non-payment-period penalties for refusing work were waived as job seekers opted to undertake additional activities rather than serve the financial penalty.

Those refusing work will no longer be able to avoid the penalties. People choosing not to work should not be rewarded, and the bill ensures those continuing to rort the system will face real consequences. This government—this parliament—would not be doing the right thing by those people who do work, pay tax and fund social security if we did not take this action. The bill will streamline and simplify the current framework. Redundant provisions will be removed and all short-term penalties will be renamed as no-show no pay.

As we have said, the bill adds to legislation implemented last year to further strengthen job-seeker compliance. There is evidence, so far, that there is a positive impact from introducing these penalties. Last year the changes saw rates of people attending their reconnection appointments jump from 65 per cent in 2013-14 to more than 90 per cent in June 2015. The figures tell the story there.

As I have been saying about community expectations, as community and taxpayers fund all social security payments—which are necessary—individuals who are not genuine job seekers are, at the moment, able to escape any real ramifications. Currently there is very little to deter a job seeker from moving into the workforce and choosing to get off welfare payments. Communities should not be expected to support those who do not want to work or contribute to our society. The bill ensures that community expectations are met and that people being supported by income payments are Australians who are genuinely looking for a job—if indeed they are physically and otherwise able to do so. If they are not and they need help to become that way, that is what this is all about.

We need a system that moves people off income support as quickly as possible. I believe these new compliance measures are reasonable and that they hold people to account. Job seekers most definitely need to be actively participating in changing their future, their family's future and in helping their country. As I said, we are not getting rid of safety nets; indeed in some ways we are strengthening them. But our welfare system is about helping Australians who have come on hard times, not people who are taking advantage of the system. Ramifications must be in place to act as a deterrent to people who are improperly relying on welfare, but at the same time the safety net is being strengthened rather than weakened. This amendment sends a clear message to Australia that those in need will be helped and will continue to be helped, while those taking advantage will face the ramifications.

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