Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Improved Support for Carers) Bill 2009. It is an opportunity to celebrate carers within our community. It is an opportunity to hear the stories of carers in the various electorates around Australia. This is a fantastic debate. There is no better example of that than the wonderful contribution we have just heard from the member for Petrie, which was an eloquent description of the role that carers have played in her life and indeed in her electorate. This bill is part of the Rudd government’s commitment to implementing the recommendations which have been announced by the task force for the carer payment (child) review. Those recommendations were contained in the report of that task force, which was entitled The carer payment (child) review: a new approach.

This bill will improve the access to carer payments for people who are caring for a disabled child, and it will do that by changing the method of the assessment of the criteria which provide for eligibility for the carer payment. It is part of a broader suite of measures that the Rudd government is putting in place to support the role of carers within our community. It is estimated that, as a result of this legislation, an additional 19,000 carers within our community who are looking after children with disabilities will be entitled to the carer payment.

The carer payment is a form of income support for people who are performing one of the most challenging roles in our community—that is, the role of looking after a profoundly ill or disabled child, a child who may have a physical, intellectual, psychiatric or behavioural disability. This is a highly demanding role but it is in fact a common role. Indeed, whilst it goes a little unnoticed in our community, if each of us looks to our circle of friends then it will not be long before we find somebody that we know who is in the position of looking after a disabled child. In their task, in their lot in life, there is tragedy, but there is also a heart-warming aspect to their role and their existence.

I was speaking with one of the carer groups in my electorate and with those who support parents who look after disabled children. They made the comment that often, for these parents, the arrival of a disabled child provides a life for them which they certainly did not anticipate and a very different life from what they imagined for themselves. It is a life that requires constant attention for the disabled child that they are caring for. What is common amongst all of those who find themselves in that position and who in a sense, as the member for Petrie described, make a choice—although they themselves would never see it as a choice—is that you will never hear a complaint. You will never hear a complaint about the circumstances that they find themselves in. You will never hear a complaint about the cards that life has dealt them. There is an obvious tragedy associated with that circumstance, but there is a wonder in it as well. There is a wonder associated with looking after a child in that circumstance with that complete devotion. These people are, without exception, ordinary people when they find themselves in this situation, or when this situation is thrust upon them, but they emerge through this experience, again without exception, as extraordinary people who are very special in our community. In the experience of the life that they lead, they come the closest to touching pure and unadulterated love—the love that they provide for their disabled children. So it is a wonderful thing that we talk about these people in this place today in a bipartisan way, with support from both the opposition and the government not only for the roles that they play but for an important measure that is aimed at trying to support them in those roles.

One of the first sacrifices that are made by people in these circumstances is that they forgo their own work opportunities and perhaps the ambitions that they may have had for their professional lives. Full-time caring simply limits the ability of people to fully participate in the workforce. So the carer’s payment is about recognition of the valuable role that carers of disabled children play in our society, but it is also recognition of the consequence of that role for their own lives. Currently, 7,000 carers in Australia are receiving the carer payment for looking after disabled children, but there is clearly a much greater need within our community than is described by that number.

Indeed in June of last year more than 113,000 carers of disabled children were receiving the less-rigorously assessed carers allowance, which is a supplementary payment received by carers every fortnight. While it is not the case that every one of those 113,000 ought to appropriately be in receipt of the carers payment, that figure does give a sense of the number in our community who are caring for disabled children. What came out very clearly in the review undertaken by the task force was that there was a significant number of people in addition to those 7,000 who ought to have been in receipt of the carers payment and who needed that payment in order to perform the very important role that they did within our community. That is what this bill is ultimately all about. This bill will change the assessment of the eligibility criteria for receipt of the carer payment from 1 July this year.

As I stated, the aim of the bill is to broaden the eligibility requirements for receipt of the carer payment. The legislation does this by creating the disability care load assessment (child) determination, which is an objective assessment tool. Eligibility for the carer payment is currently determined by looking at a medical assessment of the condition that the particular child has. It is a rigid assessment and it misses many people who ought, deservedly, be in receipt of the carer payment. The new method of assessing the eligibility looks at the problem from a different perspective—that is, the level of care that a child needs. It looks not necessarily at the condition that the child has but rather at the level of care the particular child needs. It is an assessment based on the child’s functional ability, on their behaviour and on their special care needs. Indeed, looking at the issue from that point of view is consistent with the way in which the carer allowance, albeit with a lower threshold, is currently assessed.

For the first time, as a result of this bill, there will be access to the carer payment on a short-term basis or on an episodic basis. For example, it may be needed on a short-term basis if a child has been the victim of a tragic accident which has put them in hospital for an extensive rehabilitation period but which may ultimately lead to a recovery. An example of an episodic basis may be for a child suffering from cancer. This bill will improve the arrangements for the carers of children who spend extensive periods in hospital so that for more of those people their payments can continue while their child is in hospital. The bill will provide for an automatic qualification for the carers allowance for all those who are in receipt of the carers payment. Importantly, in the most tragic situations of all—that is, where a child is terminally ill—the assessment of eligibility for the carers payment will be much less intrusive and more compassionate.

Currently to qualify for the carers payment carers need a certification from a medical professional that the child is unlikely to live much beyond 12 months. That assessment and certification process is obviously very traumatic for parents, who are experiencing the most unimaginable sadness in dealing with the condition of a child. Under this bill the assessment will look at the condition the child has and at the average life expectancy for a child in those circumstances. That will be used as the basis for assessing the eligibility for the carer payment. As I say, that is a much less invasive, much less intrusive and far more compassionate means by which to make the assessment. All of these measures are a commitment on the part of the Rudd government to providing greater support for carers in our community.

There was an $822 million package to support and recognise carers within our communities in last year’s budget. The amendments to the carers legislation which are contained in this bill will be worth about $273 million over a five-year period. Last year we saw two one-off payments which delivered $2,400 to those in receipt of carer payments and $1,600 to most people who were receiving the carer allowance. Yesterday’s budget delivered a $600 per year carer supplement as well as, very importantly, a $33 increase in the pension to people who are receiving the carer payment. All this is long overdue and all of it is much needed. It provides support and acknowledgement on the part of the Rudd government for those who are caring in our community. It provides financial relief for those who are in receipt of these payments and it provides a sense of peace of mind for the thousands of carers within our community who do it tough, but who also provide an invaluable service to our community and who are really an inspiration for us all. This is the Rudd government’s recognition of the valuable role that they play, and I very much commend this bill to the House.

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