Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Social Services, Minister Ruston. The government is keen to introduce a trial of drug testing 5,000 Newstart recipients. As part of this initiative, your government has announced $10 million in additional funding for drug and alcohol rehabilitation and support services to go along with that trial. What is that money earmarked to go towards specifically, and over how long will it be spent?

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Lambie, for your ongoing interest in this particular area. As part of the drug trial program, a $10 million treatment fund will be set aside to sit alongside the two-year trial program. The treatment fund is divided into three separate areas. The first is allocated against specific case management services. We can apply these services to individuals who test the second time positive in their drug test so that we can wrap around them in an identified and individually specific way to actually deal with their specific issues. The second component is actually being able to boost drug treatment capacity in the area. So we will be working within the three trial sites in Mandurah, in Logan and in Canterbury-Bankstown to make sure the service providers within that particular region have the capacity to boost their capacity to meet any increase in demand that may be generated by these particular trials.

Obviously, as a government, we would be delighted if we didn't see any increase in the number of people who are going to be requiring treatment in those areas but we are absolutely prepared—and have put the money aside to make sure we are prepared—should we see an increase in the number of people presenting for support. And we've also got an additional amount of money so that we can actually support those individuals once they are undertaking the treatment as part of the trial, because we believe that this is a journey. It is a journey that will be different for each and every person on this trial. Hopefully, we'll be able to intervene early enough with some of them to be able to get them out of their treatment and into a job-ready state quickly, but others, we recognise, are going to take longer and will require additional resources.

Scott Ryan (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Lambie, a supplementary question?

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) | Link to this | Hansard source

It has been reported that trial participants who test positive for drugs will be able to access up to $65,000 in rehabilitation services in Canterbury, Logan and Mandurah. Is that amount consistent with what the government believes is a necessary and appropriate support for getting a Newstart recipient off drugs and into work?

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Senator Lambie. The number that you are quoting is not a cap and it is not a set amount. What we've said is that we believe we need to set aside, for the 5,000 people we will be testing—the number of people who, we believe, possibly will go through both of their tests, come out positive and who will require our additional help—$10 million. If we don't need to use all of that $10 million we will be absolutely delighted but, equally, we need to make sure there are adequate resources on an individual, case-by-case basis to be able to sort people. There will be some that will not require very much at all, and we hope there will be some immediately deterred from having drugs so that they do not test positive in the first place. But if they do, and they end up testing positive for the second time, we want to make sure there are adequate resources. The $65,000 figure that was put out into the marketplace was just an extrapolation of the number of people that possibly could test positive and the amount of money that has been made available.

Scott Ryan (President) | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Lambie, a final supplementary question?

Jacqui Lambie (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) | Link to this | Hansard source

If you're going to spend $65,000 per positive drug test, on my figures you would be spending around $1.6 billion a year on rehab if this were rolled out nationally, whether you're prepared to spend it or you're already fudging it. What on earth do we get out of a trial that isn't true to how this would operate nationally?

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously, because it is a trial, we are seeking to build up and develop a body of evidence so we can understand the magnitude of the problem and also understand where people may well sit on the spectrum of the seriousness of their drug addiction or their substance abuse problem. We understand that the cost to society of people who have long-term drug addiction is very, very significant. The $65,000 amount you referred to, as I mentioned in my previous answer, is not a cap. It's not an amount we are applying per person. It is just an extrapolated number that came from the $10 million and the estimated number of people who may test positive twice during this particular trial. What we would say is that the cost to society of people who are on drugs and the cost to themselves, their families and their communities are immense. We believe that getting people off drugs and deterring them in the first place from even trying drugs is one of the most important things the government can do for all Australians.