Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak about the government’s welfare reforms, in particular the trial of income management in both Perth and the Kimberly in Western Australia. Since November 2008 the federal government has been trialing compulsory income management in cases of child neglect in cooperation with the Western Australian government. Under this trial, the Department of Child Protection can refer people to Centrelink for income management to ensure that their children are being properly cared for. People living within the trial area can also volunteer for income management to assist them in improving their budgeting and money management skills.

Recently there was an independent evaluation of the government’s policy conducted by ORIMA Research which concluded that the trials are having a positive impact on the wellbeing of children and the families involved. The evaluation concluded that income management is helping to improve the lives of families involved in the trial by making sure that moneys that are provided by the government are spent on essential goods and items in the best interest of children and the families.

The evaluation found that 61 per cent of child protection income management participants and 67 per cent of voluntary income management participants surveyed thought that the income management process had improved their children’s lives. Participants also reported spending more money on fresh food and clothing. They reported that income management helped them get their lives in order—71 per cent of participants on child protection income management and 80 per cent on voluntary income management reported they were able to regularly save money and were less likely to run out of money to pay rent and bills. After participating in income management, the percentage of people on child protection income management who were able to save money rose from 51 per cent to 70 per cent. Interestingly enough, two thirds of the people on the child protection income management stream said they had recommended or would recommend income management to others because of the positive impact that it had on their lives—82 two per cent of those on voluntary income management said they would recommend it to others.

So we have here a very successful trial, one that has involved so far about 1,100 people—328 under the child protection measure and 800 under the voluntary income management measure. That was from November 2008 to 2010. As of 2010 there are some 244 people participating in the child protection income management side of things and 457 people in voluntary income management. We now have this program rolling out throughout the Northern Territory and we know that there have been significant child protection issues in that jurisdiction. We want to see that trial roll out. It is a very similar program to the trial being run in Western Australia. It is a non-discriminatory model of income management. It aims to provide financial stability to people who are vulnerable or who are at risk of harmful behaviour. This new model is targeted at all people who are likely to benefit from income management and there are exemptions available for full-time students, and people who have a sustained history of workplace participation or who can adequately demonstrate their proper care and education of their children.

This is a very valuable trial. It is a very valuable program. I think the government should be commended for introducing it. My only hope is that we can roll it out to more areas across Australia and, in particular, I would hope that we could roll it out in parts of my electorate as well. I think linking Centrelink with the child protection system is a very, very important policy lever to prevent neglect and to help put families back on the right path to help them look after their children. I commend it to the House.