Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I move amendment (1) on sheet 1966 revised 2:

(1) Page 66 (after line 14), at the end of the Bill, add:

Schedule 3 — Sunsetting of compulsory enhanced income management and compulsory income management

Social Security (Administration) Act 1999

1 After section 123SW

Insert:

123SX Sunsetting of compulsory enhanced income management

(1) The following provisions cease to be in force at the start of 24 March 2025:

(a) Subdivisions A to F and H of Division 2 of this Part;

(b) Subdivisions A to B of Division 3 of this Part.

(2) At any time before 24 March 2026, the Minister may, by legislative instrument, make rules prescribing matters of a transitional nature (including prescribing any saving or application provisions) arising out of the provisions mentioned in subsection (1) ceasing to be in force.

(3) To avoid doubt, the rules may not do the following:

(a) create an offence or civil penalty;

(b) provide powers of:

(i) arrest or detention; or

(ii) entry, search or seizure;

(c) impose a tax;

(d) set an amount to be appropriated from the Consolidated Revenue Fund under an appropriation in this Act;

(e) directly amend the text of the Act.

2 After section 123ZO

Insert:

123ZP Sunsetting of compulsory income management

(1) The following provisions cease to be in force at the start of 24 March 2025:

(a) sections 123UC, 123UCA, 123UCB, 123UCC, 123UD, 123UE, 123UF and 123UFAA;

(b) Subdivisions BA, BB and C of Division 2 of this Part;

(c) Subdivisions B to DAA of Division 5 of this Part.

(2) At any time before 24 March 2025, the Minister may, by legislative instrument, make rules prescribing matters of a transitional nature (including prescribing any saving or application provisions) arising out of the provisions mentioned in subsection (1) 6ceasing to be in force.

(3) To avoid doubt, the rules may not do the following:

(a) create an offence or civil penalty;

(b) provide powers of:

(i) arrest or detention; or

(ii) entry, search or seizure;

(c) impose a tax;

(d) set an amount to be appropriated from the Consolidated Revenue Fund under an appropriation in this Act;

(e) directly amend the text of the Act.

This amendment would insert a sunset clause into this legislation, which would fulfil the Labor Party's policy of ending compulsory income management. Labor went to the election saying that they were committed to an end to compulsory income management. As I noted in my second reading speech, we had just before the election the opposition spokesperson and now the Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon. Linda Burney, saying:

Our fundamental principle on the basics card and the cashless debit card, it should be on a voluntary basis.

Ms Burney then said:

Labor's fundamental position is that we do not believe in mandatory income management.

When the government came to power, and they said they were doing consultation on compulsory income management, they actually set up a time line as to how long that consultation period would be. It was 18 months, which led us initially to put the sunset clause at the end of the 18-month period, giving you plenty of time to do your consultation, which would have put it at 24 March next year, 2024.

I have since amended this amendment to actually add an extra year just to give you that extra time, and I understand that Senator Pocock is going to be in a position to support this amendment just to give you an extra year to fulfil that commitment of ending the dangerous racist policy of compulsory income management. It is the least you can do. I do not buy that, because you are doing consultation, you can't commit to a sunset clause. I was willing to engage on whatever type of sunset clause you might be interested in, given that we know that compulsory income management is a failed policy. It needs to end, but unfortunately the government was not willing to engage. They have not been willing to tell me, if 2024 or 2025 isn't an appropriate time for a sunset clause, when is an appropriate time. We need to have an end to compulsory income management. This amendment would put a very reasonable time frame on allowing that to occur.