Jan McLucas (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers) Share this | Hansard source

The government's Building Australia's Future Workforce reforms represent a long-term investment in the Australian economy through building the education, skills and employment prospects of the Australian workforce. An important part of these reforms is directed toward providing greater incentives for parents, particularly single parents, to engage in the workforce; reducing their reliance on welfare; and providing their family with a better future, underpinned by secure and rewarding employment.

The Social Security Amendment (Parenting Payment Transitional Arrange­ment) Bill 2011 represents the first stage of the income support payment reforms contained in the Building Australia's Future Workforce package. This bill is a positive step towards reducing the inequity which exists within the legislative structure of the parenting payment.

Under the current arrangements, recipients of parenting payment are treated differently based on when they first applied for parenting payment. This inequity dates back to the 2006 Welfare to Work reforms, which allowed recipients who had applied for payment prior to 1 July 2006 to stay on parenting payment for up to 10 years longer than parents who applied for payment after 1 July 2006. Persons who claimed parenting payment after July 2006 only qualified for parenting payment until their youngest child turned eight if they were single or six if they are a member of a couple. Prior to July 2006, a person could qualify for parenting payment until their youngest child turned 16.

This bill will amend the Social Security Act so that, from 1 July 2011, children coming into the care of an existing parenting payment recipient will no longer extend the duration of a recipient's preferential treat­ment. This will serve to minimise the lingering inequity within parenting payment as a result of the 2006 Welfare to Work reforms. Further changes for parents on income support will take effect from 1 January 2013 and will be included in a separate bill to be introduced later this year.

I want to comment on Senator Siewert's assertion that this bill will demonise parenting payment recipients. I do not accept that assertion in any way, shape or form. The fact is that, despite our growing economy, we are still in a situation where there are 568,000 dependent children in jobless families in this country. This represents a significant social and economic challenge, which we think we need to address. Long periods in receipt of income support are associated with high levels of social and economic disadvantage—I think this is something that Senator Siewert agreed with—often extending to children in these families and to future generations. At a time of increasing national wealth, having the fourth-highest proportion of jobless families in the developed world is simply not acceptable. We cannot afford for these families to be left behind.

We firmly believe that welfare is not the way out of disadvantage for parents and their children. Education and employment are the keys to economic and social inclusion, and we are committed to providing the right balance of support, assistance and incentives to ensure that parents are able to take advantage of the opportunities that our economy has to offer. As part of these reforms, single principal carer parents on Newstart allowance will have a more generous income test which allows them to earn nearly $400 more per fortnight before they lose eligibility for payment. These parents will be able to retain more of their income support as their employment income rises, providing them with an easier transition into the workforce and better rewarding them for their participation.

Further, the income support reforms are complemented by targeted assistance which includes additional training places for single parents, additional community based support for single parents through Communities for Children and access to career counselling through Job Services Australia providers. This additional assistance will be available from 1 July 2012 and will ensure that parents have the support they need to re-engage in work and other activities.

This bill is about fairness and that is why we have introduced it. I thank both Senators Fifield and Siewert for their contributions and I commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.