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senate vote 2019-08-01#3
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2019-08-08 14:21:57
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Title
Bills — Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Cashless Welfare) Bill 2019; in Committee- Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Cashless Welfare) Bill 2019 - in Committee - Make voluntary
Description
<p class="speaker">Carol Brown</p><p>I move opposition amendment on sheet 8729:</p><p class="italic">(1) Page 6 (after line 31), at the end of the Bill, add:</p>- The majority voted against an [amendment](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2019-08-01.35.1) introduced by Tasmanian Senator [Carol Brown](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/tasmania/carol_brown), which means it failed.
- Senator Brown explained that:
- > *The cashless debit card trial has been going on for too long. It is no longer a trial. The amendment sets out a process for establishing genuine community support for the card before the end of the year. Unless the government is able to clearly demonstrate that support, the amendment would make the cashless debit card voluntary from 31 January 2020. This applies to each of the existing cashless debit card areas—East Kimberley, Ceduna, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and the Goldfields.*
<p class="italic">Schedule 2—Community support for cashless welfare arrangements</p><p class="italic"> <i>Social Security (Administration) Act 1999</i></p><p class="italic">1 Subsection 124PD(1)</p><p class="italic">Insert:</p><p class="italic"><i>community discussion report</i> <i>: </i>see subsection 124PV(4).</p><p class="italic"><i>community support report</i>: see subsection 124PT(2).</p><p class="italic">2 Subsection 124PD (1) (definition of <i>voluntary participant</i> )</p><p class="italic">Omit "subsection 124PH(3)", substitute "subsections 124PH(3) and 124PHAA(4)".</p><p class="italic">3 At the end of section 124PG</p><p class="italic">Add:</p><p class="italic">(7) A person ceases to be a trial participant on 31 January 2020 unless a determination is made under section 124PV that applies to the Ceduna area.</p><p class="italic">4 At the end of section 124PGA</p><p class="italic">Add:</p><p class="italic">(7) A person ceases to be a trial participant on 31 January 2020 unless a determination is made under section 124PV that applies to the East Kimberley area.</p><p class="italic">5 At the end of section 124PGB</p><p class="italic">Add:</p><p class="italic">(7) A person ceases to be a trial participant on 31 January 2020 unless a determination is made under section 124PV that applies to the Goldfields area.</p><p class="italic">6 At the end of section 124PGC</p><p class="italic">Add:</p><p class="italic">(7) A person ceases to be a trial participant on 31 January 2020 unless a determination is made under section 124PV that applies to the Bundaberg and Hervey Bay area.</p><p class="italic">7 Section 124PH (at the end of the heading)</p><p class="italic">Add "—general".</p><p class="italic">8 Paragraph 124PH(1 ) ( bd)</p><p class="italic">Repeal the paragraph, substitute:</p><p class="italic">(bd) subsection (2A), (2B) or (2C) apply to the person; and</p><p class="italic">9 After subsection 124PH(1)</p><p class="italic">Insert:</p><p class="italic">(2A) This subsection applies to a person if, before 31 January 2020, the person is not subject to the income management regime under Part 3B.</p><p class="italic">(2B) This subsection applies to a person if, on or after 31 January 2020, the person is not subject to the income management regime under section 123UC, 123UCB, 123UCC or 123UF.</p><p class="italic">(2C) This subsection applies to a person if:</p><p class="italic">(a) a determination has been made under section 124PV that applies to the trial area that is the person's usual place of residence; and</p><p class="italic">(b) the person is not subject to the income management regime under Part 3B.</p><p class="italic">10 At the end of Subdivision B of Division 1 of Part 3B</p><p class="italic">Add:</p><p class="italic">124PHAA Voluntary participants—Bundaberg and Hervey Bay area</p><p class="italic">(1) This section applies on and after 31 January 2020 unless a determination is made under section 124PV that applies to the Bundaberg and Hervey Bay area.</p><p class="italic">(2) A person may notify the Secretary, orally or in writing, that the person wishes to be subject to cashless welfare arrangements if:</p><p class="italic">(a) the person's usual place of residence is, becomes or was within the Bundaberg and Hervey Bay area; and</p><p class="italic">(b) the person is receiving newstart allowance, youth allowance (where neither section 540AA of the 1991 Act (about new apprentices) nor paragraph 541(1) (a) of the 1991 Act (about full-time study) applies) or parenting payment; and</p><p class="italic">(c) the person is under 35 years of age on the day this section commences and the person has not turned 36 years of age; and</p><p class="italic">(d) the person does not have a Part 3B payment nominee (within the meaning of Part 3B); and</p><p class="italic">(e) the person is not covered by a determination under subsection 43(3A); and</p><p class="italic">(f) the person is not subject to the income management regime under section 123UC, 123UCB, 123UCC or 123UF; and</p><p class="italic">(g) the person is not otherwise a trial participant.</p><p class="italic">(3) A person may withdraw the notification at any time.</p><p class="italic">(4) Until a person withdraws the notification, the person is a <i>voluntary participant</i>, unless the Secretary determines that the person is not to be subject to cashless welfare arrangements under subsection (5).</p><p class="italic">(5) The Secretary may determine that a person who is a voluntary participant is not to be subject to cashless welfare arrangements. If the Secretary makes such a determination, the Secretary must notify the person, in writing, accordingly.</p><p class="italic">11 At the end of Part 3D</p><p class="italic">Add:</p><p class="italic">124PT Community support for trial of cashless welfare arrangement</p><p class="italic">(1) As soon as practicable after this section's commencement, the Minister must cause a review to determine whether the community in each trial area genuinely supports the trial of a cashless welfare arrangement in that area.</p><p class="italic">(2) The persons conducting the review must provide the Minister a written report (the <i>community support report</i>) of the review before 31 December 2019.</p><p class="italic">(3) The Minister must publish the report on the Department's website as soon as practicable after the report is given to the Minister.</p><p class="italic">(4) The Minister must cause copies of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the report is given to the Minister.</p><p class="italic">124PU Statement on support for the provision of services in trial areas</p><p class="italic">(1) Before 31 December 2019, the Minister must publish on the Department's website a statement setting out the steps that have been taken by the Commonwealth to support the provision of relevant services in each trial area and set out future improvements to those relevant services.</p><p class="italic">(2) <i>Relevant services </i>in a trial area are services relating to the care, protection, welfare or safety of adults, children or families including economic development and employment programs, early intervention and community services, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation services.</p><p class="italic">(3) The Minister must cause copies of the statement to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the statement's publication.</p><p class="italic">124PV Determination to allow for continuation of cashless welfare arrangement in trial area</p><p class="italic">(1) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, make a determination in relation to a trial area if the Minister is satisfied the community in the trial area genuinely supports the trial of a cashless welfare arrangement in that area.</p><p class="italic">(2) In determining whether the community genuinely supports the trial, the Minister must have regard to all of the following:</p><p class="italic">(a) the community support report in relation to the trial area;</p><p class="italic">(b) the community discussion report in relation to the trial area;</p><p class="italic">(c) any submissions made to the Minister under subsection (5);</p><p class="italic">(d) the views of communities bodies (if any) in the trial area.</p><p class="italic">(3) The determination must set out the Minister's reasons for being satisfied the community in the trial area genuinely supports the trial of a cashless welfare arrangement in that area.</p><p class="italic">(4) Before making the determination, the Minister must cause:</p><p class="italic">(a) a meeting to occur in the trial area for the community to discuss with the Department the effect of the determination if made; and</p><p class="italic">(b) a report (the <i>community discussion report</i>) to be prepared of the discussion that occurred at the meeting; and</p><p class="italic">(c) the community discussion report to be published on the Department's website.</p><p class="italic">(5) Before making the determination, the Minister must publish a notice inviting written submissions about making of the determination to be provided on or before a day (the closing day) that is no earlier than 2 weeks after the day of the notice's publication.</p><p>The cashless debit card trial has been going on for too long. It is no longer a trial. The amendment sets out a process for establishing genuine community support for the card before the end of the year. Unless the government is able to clearly demonstrate that support, the amendment would make the cashless debit card voluntary from 31 January 2020. This applies to each of the existing cashless debit card areas—East Kimberley, Ceduna, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and the Goldfields.</p><p>The amendment requires the minister to produce by the end of the year a community support report demonstrating whether there is genuine community support for the continuation of the cashless debit card in each of the trial areas. Support from a local MP or a mayor would not be enough to justify the continuation of the card. The report would need to clearly examine whether there was genuine support in the local community. This report will be required to be made public and tabled in parliament. The amendment will also require the minister to produce a statement on the support for the provision of services. This requires the minister to set out clearly what wraparound services are available in a cashless debit card trial area and how they will be improved. This is necessary because the communities are being told by this government that the cashless debit card is the only support they will get. This is reactionary thinking, and it is the kind of approach to income management that has been disproved time and time again. The blanket application is on par with the shameful system of food stamps used in the United States. The government needs to be forced to outline the investments it will make in economic development and job creation, early intervention, health and education, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation, because the rights supports and opportunities can address some of the underlying causes of disadvantage much more effectively than the cashless debit card. If, after completing the process of producing these two reports, the minister does think there is genuine support in the community, they must make a determination to continue the cashless debit card. As part of the process, the minister must also hold a community meeting so any claims about support are transparent. The determination would be disallowable by the Senate. I commend the amendments to the Senate.</p> <p class="speaker">Rachel Siewert</p><p>The Greens will be supporting these amendments. They don't go far enough for us however. We moved a second reading amendment that said we should get rid of income management and the cashless welfare card. The cashless welfare card, as I articulated in my second reading contribution, demonises people and stigmatises people, and it is not the way that we address the very serious issues that we know communities are facing. I've gone through the details of that extensively in this place on many occasions. So we think this is a step in the right direction, which is why we're supporting it. We should make the cashless welfare card voluntary.</p><p>I'm very sceptical about testing community support because the experience at the moment is that it is a flawed approach. The government keeps tells us it's supporting communities; however, when I go into those communities, I don't see a whole lot of support for the people who are stuck on the card, who are suffering the effects of the card, whose lives have been made harder by the card. I've articulated those experiences in this place on many occasions—in particular, yesterday in my second reading contribution and the night before in my adjournment speech. There are a lot of people whose lives have not been made better by this card; they've been made significantly worse in terms of not only their capacity to manage their finances but also their physical and, in particular, mental health.</p><p>Having said that, this is a step in the right direction. I know that what the Greens expect from the amendments around community support and testing is an independent process, not one that is driven by government. Quite frankly, we simply cannot trust them to do the job properly. We've seen flawed consultation processes in the past; we've seen flawed evaluation processes, and, again, I've spoken about those flaws on many occasions. So we say that this consultation process needs to be carried out independently and needs to be clear, transparent and accountable. Having said that, these amendments are a step in the right direction, so we will be supporting them.</p> <p class="speaker">Anne Ruston</p><p>The government won't be supporting these amendments because the government believes that one of the strengths of this particular initiative is the fact that we are able to work in partnership with communities to make sure that we continue to be flexible, backwards and forwards, about meeting their requirements. Also, we have and we continue to consult and work with community leaders, representative bodies, local governments, service providers, community members and people on the card. So far, the experience we have had is that, overwhelmingly, these people are in support of the positive benefits that are being generated by this particular initiative, and we will continue to work with them to that affect. Obviously, there are a series of reviews that have been in place to assess the validity and the benefits of this card, all of which have been made publicly available and which will continue to be made publicly available into the future.</p><p>Most importantly, when we consider the benefits and outcomes that we've seen in the trial sites of the delivery and operation of this card, are the rights of the children. The rights of the children in delivering this card have been at the absolute forefront of everything we've done, and ensuring the welfare of children ranks as one of the most basic and important tasks of any government and any society. Children have the right to access food, safe housing and education, and we will continue to work in partnership with communities across Australia to make sure this program continues to deliver benefits to our most vulnerable—our young.</p> <p class='motion-notice motion-notice-truncated'>Long debate text truncated.</p>
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