Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister for Families and Social Services (Senator Ruston) to a question without notice asked by Senator Siewert today relating to the coronavirus supplement.

I rise today to take note of Minister Ruston's answer to my question about the JobSeeker payment as it relates to the coronavirus supplement and the Productivity Commission's report on mental health.

First, I asked the minister—and I thought it was a fairly simple question—whether it is government policy for people on the JobSeeker payment to live in poverty. The minister spent two minutes very carefully not answering the question. I would call it filibustering. So, given the evidence that is before us, I'll answer the question. Yes, it obviously is government policy that people on the JobSeeker payment live in poverty, because their actions speak louder than words. With the cut to the coronavirus supplement that has already occurred, people are now living below the poverty line. And with the changes to and the lowering of the coronavirus supplement that will come in on 1 January 2021—less than two months time—they will definitely be living in poverty. They will be dropped further into poverty. So yes—it is government policy that people on the JobSeeker payment should live in poverty. The minister also then basically didn't answer and ignored my question about all those children who will have a deprived Christmas because their parents will be very aware that they have limited money at the moment, which will be even more limited when they come to 1 January, a week after Christmas, and their payments are cut again and they will be living in poverty.

I want to quickly touch on the Productivity Commission report, because this is very important when discussing these issues. I asked the minister, in relation to the Productivity Commission report, whether she agrees that the low rate of income support and punitive mutual obligations are making Australians' mental health worse. That's what the Productivity Commission says in their report on mental health. The minister said that they'll take their time. They're looking at the report, but they need to take some time to review the report. This was released on 16 November. But the community needs to know that the government has had that report since 30 June this year—in other words, in time for their budget in October to respond much more formally and strongly than it did in the commitments they made. While the commitments made in October are of course welcome, they are piecemeal and they are not done in response to the Productivity Commission report.

But how does this affect jobseekers, and those on income support particularly? The Productivity Commission report found that the mutual obligations requirements and our income support system negatively impact and aggravate the symptoms and increase the distress of those with poor mental health. The system itself is hurting people, which is why I asked the minister that question. Our income support system and the punitive approach to mutual obligations is aggravating peoples' mental ill health. The outcomes for participants in jobactive who have mental ill health are significantly worse, with 82 per cent spending more than 12 months on the program compared with 64 per cent for the wider jobactive population. It noted the challenges that people with ongoing mental ill health face when trying to re-enter the workforce. It found that people receiving income support were more than three times more likely to have depression than those in paid employment.

We know that people who are on the JobSeeker payment and who don't have work are more likely to have mental ill health. But we have a system that then aggravates that mental ill health and, in fact, in and of itself makes them stay longer in the system—because the system is making them sicker. It's making them more unwell. The minister would not answer the question about whether she agreed with the Productivity Commission's report. This makes me deeply concerned that the government is ignoring the fact that the very system they say they've put in place to help people find work is making people more unwell. Again, according to the facts, reform is needed. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.