Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak on the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Community Development Program) Bill 2018. Following on from Senator Paterson, I think it's very important to understand that, when we're talking about Indigenous employment opportunities, this is only one building block in a complete plan to enable every Australian to have the opportunity to find and keep a stable and reasonably paid job. We see right across the economy the work of the minister to try and build the capacity of Indigenous businesses, to employ Indigenous Australians and to build the capacity of other businesses to do so. We see changes to things like the CDP to try and enable the building blocks to be put in place to grow the economic base, particularly in those remote communities where the economic base isn't necessarily available to sustain long-term, well-paid jobs.

But part of the problem in that regard is that, in order to develop the economic base, particularly in remote and regional Australia, we actually need to have development. Recently, in Western Australia, we had the Thunderbird project in the Pilbara, which has, thank goodness, recently gained its final environmental approval and heritage approval, but the process took far too long and was far too expensive. Why is that relevant to this bill? Because one of the commitments that Thunderbird made to communities in that remote part of Western Australia was that 40 per cent of their workforce—a significant workforce—were going to come from the local Indigenous communities. That is what we want to do. That's what this government wants to do. We want to build capacity.

I was talking to the mayor of the Shire of Laverton about work being done on the Outback Way. They have a road building contractor team, construction companies and Indigenous-run businesses employing local people to do the work and to deliver long-term, sustainable jobs. We have to grow the economic base of the regions and grow the economic base in rural and regional Australia, and to do that we need development.

The CDP is an important part of allowing people to gain some skills and experience, but it is part of a series of building blocks which we need to put in place in order to give people the opportunity they deserve to build a better life for themselves; to stay on their country, if that's what they choose to do; and to stay engaged with their friends and families, if that's where they choose to stay. But, in order to do that, we actually need development. We actually need real jobs out in the regions. So I certainly support this bill. It is a building block for what we need to do.

I will go through some of the detail of the bill, but, before I do so, I want to talk about some of the other things that have been done in this space and some of the other things which the minister, in particular, and this government have been focused on. The support we provide to growing the Indigenous business sector is fundamental, as I've said. It is vitally important that people both see success stories and find a path to work through those success stories, through those businesses. I will again go back to a case in WA. I met with Minister Scullion a couple of times recently. There is an electrical business located in Fremantle, Western Australia, called Wilko. This business has a really strong focus on Indigenous employment. They are doing great things. They are providing apprenticeships in the Indigenous employment space. They have gained support from the government in order to grow their business, to keep those people in jobs employed and to get the training they need to actually build better lives. The whole point of growing the Indigenous business sector is to create more jobs and to provide economic independence, which is so vital to a successful future.

Growing the Indigenous business sector doesn't happen in isolation; it happens in the framework of generally good government policy settings. We've seen a commitment in the other place, and we saw it here this morning, locking in those tax cuts and accelerating those tax cuts for small and medium-sized businesses. It helps all businesses, including Indigenous businesses.

We have seen, through this government's Indigenous Procurement Policy, a drive in demand for those services from Indigenous businesses. That is tapping into the extraordinary capabilities that those businesses can provide and that haven't always been as well recognised in the past as perhaps they should have been. This is an example of how government policy can actually help spread the word and give those businesses an opportunity. Since the Indigenous Procurement Policy was launched, the Commonwealth has purchased just over $1 billion worth of goods and services from or through Indigenous businesses. That is over $1 billion, up from just $6.2 million in 2012-13. That alone is a remarkable achievement and is delivering positive impacts on the ground.

Through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, the government is supporting around 58 jobs per day for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. It is not just in employment that we are making a difference for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. By supporting education we are also giving Indigenous children the best possible start in life. Through the IAS, the government is investing over $220 million in 2018-19 to improve education outcomes from early childhood and schooling through to higher education. In secondary schools, we have committed more than $400 million since the start of IAS in activities to help over 25,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to stay engaged with the education system. Obviously, a key part of building an individual's capacity over time is to keep kids engaged with the education system.

It's also important that people live in a safe environment. Through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, we have invested around $245 million in 2018-19, including funding for 14 specialist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander family violence prevention legal services. These services supported around 4,000 victims of family violence last year. That $245 million, through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, funded community night patrols, operating across 81 communities in the Northern Territory, nine in South Australia and one in Western Australia. That employed a total of 403 patrollers, of which 96 per cent are Indigenous. We have continued to support, through this Indigenous Advancement Strategy, the rollout of low-aromatic fuel. Since October 2013 a total of 46 new sites have been added and have started stocking the lower-aromatic fuel, taking the total number of sites around Australia to 175.

The government is also supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander jobseekers in remote areas through a number of new business initiatives. The Indigenous Entrepreneurs Capital Scheme, which I did speak about earlier, is a $90 million facility within the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, which provides one-off grants for the purchase or lease of business plant and equipment, as well as tailored business advice to assist businesses to identify opportunities, plan for sustainability and access appropriate commercial finance. It is exclusively for Indigenous businesses in regional and remote areas, unlocking business opportunities for jobseekers in those areas. The plan there is that you build up the businesses and give them the capacity to employ more people. They will then employ more Indigenous people. They will, in that way, grow the capacity of the entire communities.

The government has also announced that it is investing an additional just over $3 million in Indigenous Business Australia to deliver start-up grant, loan and lease packages over the next 12 months to Indigenous customers in Aboriginal Land Rights Act areas, community living areas and remote native title areas of the Northern Territory. As part of those packages, IBA will provide tailored assistance in the form of ongoing management activities to support Indigenous business growth and a capital mix of low-interest rate loans and/or low-interest lease plus grants up to a combined value of $100,000 per customer.

Additionally, the Commonwealth government supports remote businesses through Many Rivers Microfinance Limited. Many Rivers Microfinance is funded by the IAS to deliver micro-enterprise development support to approximately 800 Indigenous entrepreneurs in remote areas and economic development support to local remote Indigenous community organisations in 40 locations over the next three years. Once again, you can see this is part of the government's plan to put the building blocks in place to actually develop the economic base out there in remote and rural Australia, particularly, to give those communities a chance to have long-term, sustainable jobs that pay a decent wage and can give people a long-term path to employment.

The government is also assisting Indigenous businesses in the construction industry, who face unique challenges because many projects need a construction guarantee in order to win work. These requirements present a significant barrier to entry, particularly for those businesses that are in remote areas or may not have a large book of projects in front of them. The new $20 million performance and warranty bond facility, which Indigenous construction firms can use to win road and construction contracts, has been introduced. Again, we see these kinds of businesses already in operation in building parts of the Outback Way.

So the package of reforms to the CDP builds on all these other things that we are doing in the space of Indigenous employment. They were developed directly in response to feedback from communities and will increase support to vulnerable jobseekers in remote Australia, providing more pathways to jobs, moving people off welfare and into jobs, and improving outcomes.

I want to go to some of the detail in the bill. In particular, I wish to address in detail the Targeted Compliance Framework. The TCF is a demerit point system where jobseekers incur demerits through noncompliance with their mutual obligation requirements but generally no financial penalties in the initial stages. The TCF is split into three zones: the green zone, where there are no demerits; the warning zone, where there are one to five demerits in a six-month period; and the penalty zone. Generally that means more than five demerits within a six-month period. Once a jobseeker has accrued five demerits in six months, financial penalties may start to apply for latent noncompliance. However, the jobseeker will have two separate assessments before this point. This is very important: jobseekers can move back into the green zone by consistently meeting their mutual obligations. Obviously, all jobseekers will commence in the green zone with no demerits. If a jobseeker in the green zone fails to meet a mutual obligation requirement, the provider must speak with the jobseeker following each event of noncompliance to discuss if the jobseeker had a valid reason for not attending. If so, they would generally have the requirement rescheduled, but the accrued demerit is removed and any payment is unsuspended and back-paid. If there is no valid reason for noncompliance, the accrued demerit is confirmed and the jobseeker's payments remain suspended until they re-engage with their missed requirement, although there are exceptions to this.

After three demerits in the warning zone, a capability interview is triggered between the jobseeker and their provider. The capability interview is an additional protection for the jobseeker. The provider is required to meet again with the jobseeker to ensure that they are fully capable of meeting their current requirements and understand their obligations. The interview provides the opportunity for the jobseeker to disclose circumstances that may be impacting their ability to meet their requirements. It also ensures that providers consider the jobseeker's requirement against their level of capability, anything which might be affecting their ability to comply, any other supports they may need, their personal circumstances, their skills and the local labour market. Providers must discuss recent noncompliance and ensure that the jobseeker understands that ongoing noncompliance could result in financial penalties. If it is found that the jobseeker is not capable of successfully meeting their job plan or does not understand the requirements, a reconsideration of requirements for the jobseeker is required. This can occur if a newly disclosed—