Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills may proceed without formalities, may be taken together and be now read a first time.

Question agreed to.

Bills read a first time.

I present the explanatory memoranda and I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

COAL MINING INDUSTRY (LONG SERVICE LEAVE) LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2011

This Bill gives effect to proposals, developed by an Industry Working Party, to reform the portable long service leave arrangements in the black coal mining industry. The Industry Working Party comprised of representatives from the NSW Minerals Council Limited, the Queensland Resources Council, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union – Mining and Energy Division, the Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia, the NSW Colliery Officials Association and the Mine Managers Association of Australia.

I commend the industry participants on their collaborative approach and their commitment to the future success of the unique black coal mining industry long service leave scheme.

This Bill will amend the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Act 1992, the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Act 1992, the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection Act 1992 and the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Amendment Act 2009.

Employees in the black coal mining industry have accessed portable long service leave entitlements under the terms of Federal Awards since 1949 which in turn were funded by an excise on coal production. Since 1993 the funding of entitlements has been through an employer levy scheme and administered by the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation.  Employers are reimbursed when they have made a payment to an eligible employee in respect of their entitlement.

A priority concern of the Industry Working Party was to ensure that the long service leave entitlement applied universally in the black coal mining industry. Amendments were made in 2009 to address this concern. Schedule 2 of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Amendment Act 2009 extended the preserved award-based long service leave entitlements to all the eligible employees who did not otherwise have an award-derived long service leave entitlement from 1 January 2010.

While the 2009 amendments addressed the priority concerns of the Industry Working Party this Bill seeks to further the 2009 reforms by providing for the remaining proposals of the Industry Working Party.

The Bill legislates the minimum long service leave entitlement for all eligible employees in the black coal mining industry based on the precursor award entitlement. Provision is made for all eligible employees, whether full-time, part-time or casual, to accrue long service leave in the black coal mining industry. An eligible employee will be entitled to long service leave when they have completed a period, or periods, of qualifying service totalling 8 years or more.

The Bill provides for a greater compliance role for the Corporation. The Corporation will have the power to require persons to produce information or documents and standing to pursue alleged contraventions of a civil penalty provision on behalf of the Commonwealth. Additional penalty provisions have been included and existing penalty levels have been increased in line with contemporary standards.

The Bill makes changes to the structure and representation of the Board of Directors of the Corporation to better reflect the current industry representative status of certain employee-representative and employer-representative groups, and to increase the terms of directors from 2 to 4 years.

The Bill also establishes a regime for transition from the award-derived long service leave scheme (preserved under section 113 of the Fair Work Act 2009 in respect of award employees and extended to non-award employees by Schedule 2 of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Amendment Act 2009) to the new statutory long service leave scheme established by this Bill.

The government is happy to facilitate these amendments proposed by the Industry Working Party which will benefit both employers and employees in the black coal mining industry. 

I commend this bill.

SOCIAL SECURITY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (FAMILY PARTICIPATION MEASURES) BILL 2011

The Bill introduces amendments to the Social Security Act 1991 and the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (the Administration Act) for the teenage parent and jobless families trials which were announced in the Building Australia’s Future Workforce package in the 2011-12 Budget. The trials will be implemented in ten disadvantaged locations across Australia. The Bill will be accompanied by a legislative instrument which will outline limited circumstances where a Parenting Payment recipient with a youngest child aged less than six years can be required to attend interviews and develop a participation plan with the Department of Human Services. For teenage parent trial participants, parents can also be required to do the activities set out in the participation plan. Trial participants who do not meet these new requirements can have their income support payment suspended until they comply. Once they comply their payment will be re-instated and they will receive full back-pay. Family Tax Benefit will continue to be paid even where income support is suspended.

Joblessness among families is a significant social and economic problem in Australia and Australia has one of the highest proportion of children living in jobless families in the OECD. There are currently some 257,000 jobless families with dependent children who are on income support and who have no reported income over the last year or more. Being in a jobless family where no adult has a job for a significant period of time is associated with higher rates of poverty, poorer health status and lower education attainment for both parents and their children.

There are around 11,000 teenage parents on Parenting Payment in Australia. Over 90 per cent of these parents do not have Year 12 education and over a quarter only have primary school as their highest level of attained education. There are some teenage parents who do very well for themselves and their children. However there is also clear evidence that becoming a teenage parent carries with it a greater risk of poor life outcomes for both parents and children.

These trials provide new services, opportunities and responsibilities to boost the educational attainment and job readiness of the parents, and to increase the wellbeing and development of young children. Improved family functioning is an expected outcome of the trials.

Currently, a parent on Parenting Payment who has a youngest child reach six years of age, must look for a job of at least 15 hours per week. If parents don’t do this, or if they don’t accept a suitable job that is offered to them, they can lose their income support for a period of time. But for parents on Parenting Payment with children younger than six years old, there are currently no participation requirements. As at the end of June 2011, there were some 323,000 parents on Parenting Payment with no participation requirements.

The Government recognises the important role that this group of parents plays in caring for their young children. But there are often many services in their local community that they could be using while they are parenting – many of which are free of charge - to improve their family’s life outcomes. This includes playgroups, preschool, TAFE courses, going back to school, attending baby health clinics and joining life skills programs such as cooking classes and financial management classes.

It is by making use of these services while their children are young that parents on welfare can improve their chances of being financially independent once their children are at school. Making use of these services also means their children are more likely to be school ready when they turn six years old. Making use of these services helps empower parents because they are exercising their right to use local community resources from which they can sometimes feel excluded.

By introducing requirements for teenage parent trial participants which mean they must access local services and attend activities, the Government is sending a clear message that it is the responsibility of the parent to make the most of opportunities available to them. The trial participants will be teenage parents in the ten locations who do not have Year 12 or equivalent, who have children who are not yet 6 years old, and who are in receipt of Parenting Payment. There will be some 4,000 teen parents in total participating in the trial. Teen parents must seek to attain Year 12 or equivalent via their participation in the trial.

Each of the trial locations will have specially tailored opportunities for teen parents to re-engage with education, including options for studying without having to put children into child care. There will be people who can help teenage parents to navigate the variety of services available, including for example, helping them enrol in a course or go along to an activity for the first time. The Government has invested in extra services (such as Youth Connections and Communities for Children) in the trial locations to make sure parents get the help they need to participate.

To parents in the jobless families trial (all of whom have either been on income support for at least two years or who are under the age of 23 and all of whom are not presently working nor studying while on income support and who have children who are not yet 6 years old), the Government is sending a very clear message that attending Centrelink interviews and workshops and developing a participation plan are important steps towards being work ready once children start school. There will be some 22,000 parents a year participating in the jobless families trial.

The Bill will make necessary changes to the social security law so that parents subject to the new requirements do not lose entitlement to other non-participation payments (such as Family Tax Benefit) due to failure to comply with the new requirements. Parents in the trials will not be subject to the jobseeker compliance framework.

It should be emphasised that parents who are particularly vulnerable will be assessed by Centrelink and offered more intensive support via Case Coordination. This new approach helps Centrelink better identify a parents needs and allows them to provide more appropriate referrals and better services at the time they are needed most. This support may also extend to exempting the parent from certain aspects of the trial for a period of time. The trials will be closely monitored to ensure they are effective and fair.

Ordered that further consideration of the second reading of these bills be adjourned to the first sitting day of the next period of sittings, in accordance with standing order 111.