2015-11-24
The Australian Greens have tabled a dissenting report calling on the Parliament to not pass a Bill that aims to further ‘streamline’ the job seeker compliance framework – one measure means a report from an employment service provider could see income support payments stopped if the recipient is deemed to have acted inappropriately.
“It is concerning that an employment service officer could subjectively decide if someone is acting inappropriately and effectively stop their payments, even if the recipient is struggling with an underlying mental health problem, an intellectual disability, drug and alcohol dependence, or any other complex underlying issues. The job seeker might be trying to express a legitimate consumer complaint, or might not want to agree to an inadequate Job Plan, amongst other things. This is a vague, subjective measure that could hurt vulnerable job seekers.
“I do not believe the safeguards are in place to stop unfair treatment of job seekers. This power could easily be abused.
“The Bill also seeks to deduct payments if a job seeker does not enter into an Employment Pathway Plan. Even if the job seeker does then enter into an Employment Pathway Plan a penalty amount can be deducted.
“In their submission, Jobs Australia said: Too frequently we see people who have been told to sign a Job Plan without understanding what is in it or what they are required to do. Frequently the Job Plans are not individualised and tailored to assist a person to gain employment but rather a standard plan ‘one size fits all’.
“These are just some aspects of a Bill that will make life harder for people struggling to find jobs that just aren’t there. This will not help people gain employment.
“This Bill fails to address the real barriers to employment and instead focuses on punitive ineffective measures that will punish vulnerable people.
“The Australian Greens support a simplified system, however this simplification cannot be to the detriment of people on income support or at the expense of a fair and reasonable system.
“This Bill is another example of this Government perpetuating the myth that a large number of people are rorting the social security system, and that people aren't trying hard enough to find work when the reality is that there is simply not enough jobs.
“Often it is the administrative errors from employment service providers and Centrelink that result in missed appointments and incorrect payments, amongst other things.
“It will not be supported by the Australian Greens”.