Bills Digest no. 16, 2016–17
PDF version [604KB]
Matthew Thomas
Social Policy Section
5
October 2016
This Bills Digest updates an earlier
version dated 16 October 2015.
Contents
History of the Bill
Purpose of the Bill
Structure of the Bill
About the Bills Digest
Committee consideration
Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny
of Bills
Policy position of non-government
parties/independents
Position of major interest groups
Statement of Compatibility with Human
Rights
Schedule 1—Ordinary waiting periods
Commencement
The measures
Financial implications
Schedule 2—Age requirements for
various Commonwealth payments
Commencement
The measures
Financial implications
Schedule 3—Income support waiting
periods
Commencement
The measures
Financial implications
Schedule 4—Other amendments
Commencement
The measures
Comment
Financial implications
Date introduced: 1
September 2016
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Social
Services
Commencement: Sections 1 to 3 commence on Royal
Assent.
If Royal Assent is received before 1 January
2017, Schedules 1 and 2 commence on 1 January 2017 and Schedule 3
commences on 1 July 2017.
If Royal Assent is received on or after 1 January
2017, Schedules 1 and 2 commence on the first 1 January or 1 July after
Royal Assent and Schedule 3 commences immediately after the commencement of
Schedules 1 and 2.
Schedule 4 commences immediately after
the commencement of Schedule 3.
Links: The links to the Bill,
its Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech can be found on the
Bill’s home page, or through the Australian
Parliament website.
When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent,
they become Acts, which can be found at the Federal Register of Legislation
website.
All hyperlinks in this Bills Digest are correct as at
October 2016.
History of
the Bill
The measures in Schedules 1 to 3 to this Bill were
originally contained in the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth
Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015 (the first Bill), which was
introduced into the House of Representatives on 28 May 2015.[1]
However, the Government failed to secure the passage of the Bill through the
Senate. A summary of the legislative history of the measures and the changes
made to them is contained in the Bills Digest for the first Bill.[2]
The measures were then reintroduced, together with a new
Schedule 4, in the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment)
Bill 2015 (the previous version of the Bill), which was introduced into
the 44th Parliament on 16 September 2015.[3]
That Bill was before the House of Representatives when Parliament was
dissolved. The Bill lapsed on prorogation of Parliament.
Purpose of
the Bill
The purpose of the Social Services Legislation Amendment
(Youth Employment) Bill 2016 (the Bill) is to amend the Social Security Act
1991[4]
and the Farm Household Support Act 2014[5]
to:
- extend
the application of an ordinary waiting period of seven days to
recipients of Parenting Payment and Youth Allowance (Other).[6]
The ordinary waiting period currently applies to Newstart Allowance (NSA) and
Sickness Allowance recipients[7]
- raise
the eligibility age for NSA and Sickness Allowance from 22 to 25 years with
effect from 1 January 2017 if the Bill receives Royal Assent before then, or
the first 1 January or 1 July after Royal Assent. The age requirement for Youth
Allowance will also be adjusted up from the current ceiling age of 21 years to
24 years
- introduce
a new four-week waiting period for new claimants of Youth Allowance (Other) and
Special Benefit[8]
who are aged under 25 years with effect from 1 July 2017 if the Bill receives
Royal Assent before 1 January 2017, or the first 1 January or 1 July after
Royal Assent and
- introduce
a requirement that job search activities be undertaken by new claimants of
Youth Allowance (Other) and Special Benefit in the new four-week waiting period
with effect from the commencement of the four-week waiting period introduced by
Schedule 3 of the Bill.
Structure of the Bill
The Bill contains four Schedules:
- Schedule
1 makes changes to the ordinary waiting period requirements for income support
in equivalent terms to the changes in the first Bill
- Schedule
2 contains measures that increase the qualifying age for NSA and Sickness
Allowance from 22 to 25 years and increase the age limit for Youth Allowance.
These measures are also in equivalent terms to the changes in the first Bill
- Schedule
3 introduces a four-week income support waiting period. This differs only
slightly from the proposals in the first Bill and
- Schedule
4 contains a measure that was announced as a part of the 2015–16 Budget and was
first proposed in the previous version of this Bill.[9]
This measure requires young people subject to the four-week income support
waiting period to undertake a number of additional job search activities during
this period in order to qualify for the receipt of income support.
About the Bills Digest
This Bills Digest begins by providing general information
on the response of non-government parties and interest groups, committee
consideration, financial implications and on the Statement of Compatibility
with Human Rights. Each Schedule is then treated separately as each provides
for a distinct measure. Where the measure is identical to one proposed in the
first Bill (Schedules 1 and 2) or differs slightly (Schedule 3), only summary
information is provided, with a brief analysis of the changes made. In the case
of Schedule 4, more detailed information and analysis of the provisions is
provided.
Committee consideration
On 15 October 2015 the previous version of the Bill was
referred to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and
report by 30 November 2015. Details of the inquiry and the final report are on
the Committee’s
website.[10]
The Committee observed that the proposed measures outlined
in Schedules 1 to 3 of the previous version of the Bill (and reproduced in the
current Bill) are substantially the same as those introduced in the first Bill,
and that these measures had been examined in the Committee’s inquiry into the
first Bill.[11]
In its report on that inquiry, the Committee noted that a number of submissions
and witnesses had raised concerns in relation to each of the Bill’s proposed
measures, but that these concerns were particularly acute with regard to the
proposed introduction of a four-week waiting period for income support.
A majority of submissions and the dissenting reports of Australian
Labor Party (Labor) and Australian Greens (the Greens) Senators opposed the
waiting period primarily on the grounds that it would detract from young
people’s ability to gain employment and negatively impact on their health and
well-being. Having acknowledged the concerns raised, the Committee indicated in
the majority report that it was satisfied with the safeguards put in place to
protect job seekers, and recommended that the Bill be passed.
Given that the inquiry into the first Bill had already considered
Schedules 1 to 3 the Committee chose in its inquiry into the previous version
of the Bill to focus on the changes made to Schedule 3 and the new measure
contained in Schedule 4.
Under the changes made to Schedule 3 since the first Bill,
job seekers who are initially assessed as job ready (thus qualifying for Stream
A services) but subsequently reassessed as requiring more intensive Stream B or
C services are to be exempt from the waiting period. This proposed change was
welcomed by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and the National
Welfare Rights Network (NWRN), but the NWRN did express the concern that job
seekers who had been reassessed should receive back-pay to the date on which
their circumstances changed, and not just when they were reassessed.[12]
As noted above, Schedule 4 introduces the requirement that
job seekers who are required to serve a four-week waiting period must undertake
job search activities during this period in order to receive income support
payments. A number of submissions expressed concerns about the capacity of job
seekers to meet the activity requirements without income support and the
potential for the measure to result in vulnerable job seekers having to go
without income support for extended periods.[13]
While acknowledging the above concerns, the Committee
considered that the changes were merited and that sufficient safeguards were in
place to ensure that vulnerable job seekers would not be further disadvantaged.
The Committee recommended that the Bill be passed.[14]
It should be noted that this recommendation was strongly rejected by Labor and
Greens Senators in their dissenting reports, discussed below.
On 15 September 2016, the Senate Selection of Bills
Committee decided not to refer the current Bill for inquiry.[15]
Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
The Senate Scrutiny of Bills Committee considered the previous
version of the Bill in Alert Digest 11 of 2015.[16]
In its comments, the Committee reiterated the concerns it raised in relation to
the first Bill in Alert Digest 6 of 2015.[17]
These were that under Schedule 1, item 5, proposed subsection 19DA(5), the
Secretary is empowered to prescribe, by legislative instrument, circumstances for
the purpose of determining whether a person is experiencing a personal
financial crisis and thus exempt from the ordinary waiting period. The
Committee noted that it is generally concerned about the delegation of
legislative power in such circumstances, but left ‘the question of whether the
proposed approach is appropriate to the Senate as a whole’.[18]
The Committee has repeated these comments in relation to the current Bill.[19]
Policy position of non-government parties/independents
In its dissenting report, included in the Senate Community
Affairs Legislation Committee report on the previous version of the Bill, Labor
indicated that it did not support any of the measures in the Bill, including
the new measure contained in Schedule 4:
The Labor Senators on the committee stand by the views
expressed by stakeholders, and the community at large, that these measures are
too harsh, will push young people into poverty and hardship and do nothing to
support young jobseekers into work.
The Labor Senators on this committee call on the Senate to
once again reject these harsh measures. We also call on the Liberal Government
to cease its attack on young jobseekers and drop these measures, take them out
of the Parliament and out of the Budget.[20]
The Greens expressed similar sentiments in their
dissenting report, and recommended that the Bill not be passed.[21]
Both Labor’s and the Greens’ positions remain essentially
unchanged from those set out in the Bills Digest for the first Bill[22]
and the dissenting reports that form part of the Senate Community Affairs
Legislation Committee report on the first Bill.[23]
The independents do not appear to have publicly expressed
a position with regard to the Bill.
Position of major interest groups
The positions of major interest groups are detailed in
submissions to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee inquiries
into the previous version of the Bill and the first Bill.
Most submissions to the Senate Community Affairs
Legislation Committee have opposed the introduction of a four-week waiting
period for income support. A number have also expressed concerns about raising
the eligibility age for NSA and Sickness Allowance, the tightening of ordinary
waiting period requirements and the requirement that job seekers undertake job
search activities during the four-week waiting period as a precondition for the
receipt of income support.[24]
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011[25]
(Cth), the Government has assessed the Bill’s compatibility with the human rights
and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in
section 3 of that Act. The Government considers that the Bill is compatible.[26]
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (Human
Rights Committee) has not considered the current Bill, but has commented on the
previous version of the Bill and the Statement of Compatibility.[27]
It previously examined the measures contained in Schedules 1 to 3 of the
current Bill in the context of its scrutiny of the first Bill.[28]
In its initial assessment of the measure that increases
the age requirements for NSA, Sickness Allowance and Youth Allowance (contained
in Schedule 2), the Human Rights Committee found that the statement of
compatibility did not sufficiently justify the limits to the right to equality
and non-discrimination imposed by the measure. Accordingly, it sought the
advice of the Minister for Social Services on the matter. Following its
consideration of the Minister’s response, the Human Rights Committee determined
that the measure could be considered compatible with the right to equality and
non-discrimination, and concluded its examination of the matter.[29]
In its report on the previous version of the Bill, the Committee reiterated
that it has concluded its consideration of the matter, based on the previous
additional information provided by the Minister.
Following its consideration of the four week waiting
period measure (contained in Schedule 3) as a part of its assessment of the
first Bill, the Human Rights Committee found that the statement of
compatibility did not adequately justify the limits to the right to social
security and an adequate standard of living that the measure entailed.[30]
That being the case, it sought the advice of the Minister as to whether the
measure was a proportionate means of achieving the Government’s stated
objective of encouraging greater participation in work through establishing
firm expectations for young job seekers.
Having considered the Minister’s response, the Human
Rights Committee determined that the measure did not appear to be proportionate
as it neither included an individual assessment for each person affected by the
measure, nor did it provide safeguards to ensure that no individual would be
left unable to meet their basic needs during the waiting period. The Human
Rights Committee went on to observe that its assessment of the measure against
the relevant articles of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights and the International Covenant Civil and Political Rights
raised questions as to whether the changes were justifiable under international
human rights law.[31]
In its further assessment of the measure as presented in
the previous version of the Bill, the Committee restated its position that, in
the absence of sufficient protections, the measure could not be said to be the
least rights restrictive means of achieving the Government’s objective.[32]
It also considered that because the pre-benefit requirements introduced under
Schedule 4 of the Bill extend the obligations of job seekers under Schedule 3
of the Bill:
... they potentially compound the existing limitations on the
right to social security and the right to an adequate standard of living. This
is especially the case as the requirements in Schedule 4 would require job
seekers to undertake activities that may result in the job seeker incurring
costs (such as travel and clothing) while they are receiving no social security
benefits.[33]
That said, the report does note that the Committee was
divided on the question of whether or not the measure had been sufficiently
justified as a proportionate limitation on job seekers’ rights to social
security and the right to an adequate standard of living. The Committee was
similarly split where it came to the question of whether or not imposing income
support waiting periods on people aged under 25, and thereby limiting the right
to equality and non-discrimination under international human rights law, was
justifiable.[34]
Schedule 1—Ordinary waiting periods
Commencement
The measures in Schedule 1 to the Bill commence on 1
January 2017 if the Bill receives Royal Assent before then, or the first 1
January or 1 July after Royal Assent.
The measures
This Schedule amends the Social Security Act to
make changes to the ordinary waiting period requirements. These changes:
- extend
the ordinary waiting period of seven days to recipients of Parenting Payment
and Youth Allowance (Other). The ordinary waiting period currently applies to
NSA and Sickness Allowance recipients
- provide
for the current exception to the ordinary waiting period to apply on the basis
that a person is in severe financial hardship[35]
and that the person is experiencing a personal financial crisis,[36]
making it a more stringent test and
- clarify
that the ordinary waiting period is to be served after certain other relevant
waiting periods or preclusions have ended.
An overview of the background to this measure, including
changes made to it is contained in the Bills Digest for the first Bill.[37]
The report of the Community Services Committee in relation to the first Bill
also contains relevant information.[38]
Financial implications
Estimates of the financial impact of the measures in
Schedule 1 to the Bill over the forward estimates period (2016–17 to 2019–20)
are provided in the Explanatory Memorandum, which states that they will produce
savings of $241.0 million.[39]
However, these estimates are indicative only and may be subject to change,
contingent on the date on which the measures commence and on the costs
associated with their implementation.
Schedule 2—Age requirements for various Commonwealth
payments
Commencement
The measures in Schedule 2 to the Bill commence on 1
January 2017 if the Bill receives Royal Assent before then, or the first 1 January
or 1 July after Royal Assent.
The measures
This Schedule amends the Social Security Act and
the Farm Household Support Act to raise, from 22 to 25 years, the
eligibility age for NSA and Sickness Allowance. This will result in the age requirement
for Youth Allowance being adjusted up from the current ceiling age of 21 years
to 24 years.
An overview of the background to this measure is contained
in the Bills Digest for the first Bill.[40]
The report of the Community Services Committee in relation to the first Bill
also contains relevant information.[41]
Financial implications
Estimates of the financial impact of the measures in
Schedule 2 to the Bill over the forward estimates period (2016–17 to 2019–20)
are provided in the Explanatory Memorandum, which states that they will produce
savings of $517.0 million.[42]
However, this estimate is contingent upon the date of commencement of the
measures.
Schedule 3—Income support waiting periods
Commencement
The measures in Schedule 3 to the Bill commence on 1 July
2017 if Royal Assent is received before 1 January 2017. If Royal Assent is
received on or after 1 January 2017, then Schedule 3 commences immediately
after the provisions in Schedules 1 and 2 commence.
The measures
This Schedule amends the Social Security Act to
introduce a four-week waiting period for new claimants of Youth Allowance
(Other) and Special Benefit who are under 25 years of age.[43]
The waiting period will apply to those new claimants who
are determined to be the most work-ready, that is, those claimants who are
assessed as being eligible for Stream A services under jobactive employment services arrangements. Young
people with barriers to employment (people classified as eligible for Stream B
or C services) will be exempt.[44]
During the four-week waiting period, new claimants will be
obliged to participate in a RapidConnect Plus rapid activation strategy,
introduced under Schedule 4 of the Bill. (For further details and analysis of
the RapidConnect Plus arrangements, see below.) This strategy will require
participants to undertake a number of additional job search activities as a
precondition for receiving payment after the waiting period has been served. If
participants fail to complete the required activities, this could result in
their application for income support lapsing and their being forced to reapply.
An overview of the background to the four-week waiting
period is contained in the Bills Digest for the first Bill.[45]
The report of the Community Services Committee in relation to the first Bill
also contains relevant information.[46]
The current Bill makes one relatively minor change to the
measure as it was proposed in the first Bill.
As with the first Bill, item 6 of the Schedule 3
inserts proposed section 549CAA into the Social Security Act. However,
the current Bill inserts an additional subsection—proposed subsection
549CAA(7). As noted above, the four week waiting period is to be applied
only to those job seekers who have been classified as eligible for Stream A
services under jobactive arrangements—that is, the most work-ready of
job seekers. Proposed subsection 549CAA(7) provides for Youth Allowance
claimants who are initially assessed as requiring Stream A services but then
re-assessed as requiring more intensive Stream B or C services to be exempt
from the waiting period. Item 9 inserts section 739AA into the Social
Security Act and proposed subsection 739AA(6) in equivalent terms
which applies the change to Special Benefit claimants.
Financial implications
Estimates of the financial impact of the measures in
Schedule 3 to the Bill over the forward estimates period (2016–17 to 2019–20)
are provided in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill, which estimates that
they will bring about savings of $173.3 million.[47]
That amount is dependent upon the date of commencement of the measures.
Schedule 4—Other amendments
Commencement
The measures in Schedule 4 to the
Bill commence with effect from the commencement of the four-week waiting
period introduced by Schedule 3 of the Bill.
The measures
Schedule 4 to the Bill amends the Social Security Act.
As stated above, Schedule 3 to the Bill inserts proposed section 549CAA
into the Social Security Act to set out the new income support waiting
period. In particular, proposed paragraph 549CAA(2)(c) operates so that
a person is not subject to an income support waiting period if they have
already served a waiting period in the previous six months. However, this
exemption is qualified by proposed subsection 549CAA(2A), inserted by item
1 of Schedule 4. Under this subsection the person may be subjected to a
second income support waiting period within a six month period if the Secretary
determines that they have failed to comply with their Employment Pathway Plan
requirements during the income support waiting period.[48]
Item 2 inserts proposed section 549CAC into
the Social Security Act. This provides for the Secretary to determine
that a person who is subject to a four-week income support waiting period is
not paid income support if they fail to meet the requirement to enter into an
Employment Pathway Plan and comply with the broad terms associated with their
Plan. However, proposed subsection 549CAC(2) provides that the Secretary
must not determine that income support is not payable where he, or she, is
satisfied that the person has a reasonable excuse for failing to meet their
requirements with regard to their Employment Pathway Plan. The Secretary must
determine by legislative instrument those matters that are to be taken into
account in deciding whether or not a person has a reasonable excuse.[49]
The Secretary may make a determination that income support
is not payable to a person who has failed to meet their requirements with
regard to an Employment Pathway Plan during or following the end of the waiting
period.[50]
Whenever the determination is made, it does not take effect (that is, the
income support is not payable) until the end of the four week income support
waiting period.[51]
The purpose of allowing the Secretary’s determination to take effect at the end
of the income support waiting period is to give the job seeker ‘maximum
opportunity to comply with their pre-benefit activities in the relevant income
support waiting period’.[52]
Where the Secretary determines that a person is not to be
paid income support as a result of their failure to comply with their
Employment Pathway Plan requirements, the person must make a new claim for
Youth Allowance.[53]
Such a claim cannot be made until the end of the person’s income support
waiting period.[54]
In determining the subsequent claim for Youth Allowance, the Secretary must
disregard the previous determination.[55]
The effect of this is to ensure that the person is paid income support from the
date on which the subsequent claim is granted.
Items 3 to 5 of Schedule 4 to the Bill insert proposed
subsections 731L(1), 739AA(2A) and section 739AC into the Social
Security Act. These provisions replicate the above amendments for Youth
Allowance claimants, but in relation to Special Benefit claimants.
Comment
This Schedule introduces the pre-benefit requirements that
must be fulfilled by people subject to a four-week income support waiting
period, in order for them to qualify for income support. These pre-benefit
requirements are intended to complement the waiting period measure. While the
income support waiting period is calculated to spur young people to maximise
their efforts to find employment, the pre-benefit activities are anticipated to
enhance their prospects of finding any jobs that might be available.
As noted in the Bills Digest for the first Bill, there is
no substantive evidence that young Australians lack the will to work, or that
they require any further impetus to look for work.[56]
In justifying the proposed new approach, the Government has on a number of
occasions made reference to New Zealand’s system, under which some claimants of
working age payments (not young people specifically) are obliged to undertake
pre-benefit activities within a 28 day period.[57]
These pre-benefit activities are broadly similar to those required under the
RapidConnect Plus program.
For example, in response to a question on whether the
Government has any evidence that the four week waiting period would prompt
young people to get jobs, former Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison,
stated:
Well I can only point to the New Zealand
experience where they have introduced a similar measure and 40 per cent of
those who entered that four week waiting period in New Zealand didn’t end up
going onto benefits. Now that strikes me as a pretty good success rate and what
we’re saying is, we don’t want for job ready young people, for the message to
be that you go from the school gate to the Centrelink front door. Now the Labor
party and the Greens and others think that’s the right answer, that we should
be sending the message to young people that you walk out the school gates and
you walk into the Centrelink front door and you treat the Centrelink catalogue
like it’s an Ikea catalogue. That’s not what we should be doing. In New Zealand
they have the runs on the board. Forty per cent of those entering that four
week waiting period end up not going on the dole, but going into work and not
being dependent on welfare benefits. I think that’s a project worth pursuing,
that has results, and I think can provide a way forward.[58]
However, the measures put forward in the Bill differ
substantially from those applied in the New Zealand system.
Under New Zealand’s arrangements, new applicants for income
support may be subject to pre-benefit
requirements which must be completed within 20 working days or their claim
will lapse.[59]
However, the pre‑benefit requirements have no bearing on the new
applicant’s date of entitlement for the commencement of benefits.
As such, when applicants have completed their pre-benefit
obligations and their application has been processed they will receive their
payment calculated from their commencement
date.[60] The commencement date is either the day after
their ‘stand down period’, where applicable (this is the equivalent of
Australia’s ordinary waiting periods), or their application date, whichever is
the later. In effect, this means that all eligible recipients will receive back
pay to their relevant commencement date. The length of time it takes before a
job seeker actually receives any payment is thus dependent on the time taken to
complete any pre-benefit obligations (along with any other relevant
requirements).
Given that New Zealand’s arrangements are not comparable to
those contained in the Bill, New Zealand researcher, Simon Chapple, has argued
that the New Zealand pre-benefit activities requirement does not provide the
support for the measure that the Government claims. Chapple observes that the
New Zealand outcome
... doesn’t demonstrate that depriving young people—or
anyone—of income support for 28 (or 20) days following application increases
their likelihood of leaving welfare. Sure, some New Zealanders who apply for a
benefit didn’t ‘end up on welfare’ after 28 days. But they also didn’t go
through the kind of month-long wait with no income support which is promoted in
the Australian Government’s proposed policy. New Zealand does not offer the
positive example for Australia that Morrison suggests.[61]
A number of commentators have observed that the waiting
period measure is likely to place some young people in severe financial
hardship.[62]
The Government has acknowledged this, having noted that emergency relief funding
will be available for assistance to job seekers affected by the measure.[63]
As has been noted in the Bills Digest for the first Bill, there is a risk that withdrawing
access to income support could have the unintended consequence of detracting
from some young people’s ability to find and gain paid employment.[64]
Financial implications
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the measures in
Schedule 4 to the Bill are expected to cost $0.8 million over the forward
estimates period (2016–17 to 2019–20).[65]
[1]. Parliament
of Australia, Social
Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015
homepage, Australian Parliament website.
[2]. M
Klapdor and M Thomas, Social
Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015,
Bills digest, 120, 2014–15, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 15 June 2015.
[3]. Parliament
of Australia, Social
Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 2015 homepage,
Australian Parliament website.
[4]. Social Security Act 1991
(Cth).
[5]. Farm Household Support
Act 2014.
[6]. Youth
Allowance (Other) is Youth Allowance which is payable to a person who is not
undertaking full-time study and is not a new apprentice.
[7]. The
ordinary waiting period for Newstart Allowance is set out in sections 620 and
621 of the Social Security Act; the ordinary waiting period for sickness
allowance is set out in sections 693 and 694 of the Social Security Act.
[8]. Special
Benefit is a payment for those in financial hardship who are unable to receive
any other income support which is paid in accordance with the rules set out in
Part 2.15 of the Social Security Act.
[9]. Australian Government, Budget measures: budget paper no. 2: 2015–16, p. 159.
[10]. Senate
Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Social
Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 2015, The
Senate, Canberra, November 2015.
[11]. Senate
Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Social
Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015
[Provisions], The Senate, Canberra, 11 August 2015.
[12]. Senate
Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Social Services Legislation
Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 2015, op. cit., p. 11.
[13]. Ibid.,
p. 12.
[14]. Ibid.,
p. 14.
[15]. Senate
Standing Committee for Selection of Bills, Report,
6, 2016, The Senate, 15 September 2016.
[16]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Alert
Digest, 11, 2015, The Senate, 14 October 2015, pp. 33–34.
[17]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Alert
Digest, 6, 2015, The Senate, 17 June 2015, pp. 55–56.
[18]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Alert
Digest, 11, 2015, The Senate, 14 October 2015, p. 34.
[19]. Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Alert
digest, 6, 2016, The Senate, 14 September 2016, pp. 33–34.
[20]. Australian
Labor Party Senators, Dissenting
report, Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Social Services
Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 2015 [provisions], The
Senate, Canberra, 30 November 2015, p. 18.
[21]. Ibid.,
pp. 19–22.
[22]. Klapdor
and Thomas, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and
Other Measures) Bill 2015, op. cit., pp. 5–6.
[23]. Senate
Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Social Services Legislation
Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015 [Provisions], 2015,
op. cit.
[24]. Submissions
to Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Inquiry into the
Social Services Legislation (Youth Employment) Bill 2015, 2015; Submissions
to Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Inquiry into the Social
Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015,
2015.
[25]. Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.
[26]. The
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights can be found in the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Bill.
[27]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Twenty-ninth
report of the 44th Parliament, 13 October 2015, pp. 34–41.
[28]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Twenty-fourth
report of the 44th Parliament, 23 June 2015, pp. 13–15.
[29]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Twenty-eighth
report of the 44th Parliament, 17 September 2015, p. 55.
[30]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Twenty-fourth report of the 44th Parliament,
op. cit., pp. 15–19.
[31]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Twenty-eighth report of the 44th Parliament,
op. cit., pp. 59–63.
[32]. Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights, Twenty-ninth report of the 44th Parliament,
op. cit., pp. 39–40.
[33]. Ibid.,
p. 39.
[34]. Ibid.,
p. 41.
[35]. The
note to proposed subsection 19DA(1) of the Social Security Act
references subsections 19C(2) and 19C(3) for the meaning of in severe
financial hardship.
[36]. The
meaning of experiencing a personal financial crisis is defined in
proposed section 19DA of the Social Security Act.
[37]. Klapdor
and Thomas, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and
Other Measures) Bill 2015, op. cit., pp. 7–8. A brief analysis of the
measure in its original form is contained in P Yeend and L Buckmaster, Social
Services and Other Legislation (2014 Budget Measures No. 1) Bill 2014, Bills
digest, 14, 2014–15, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 19 August 2014,
pp. 22–24.
[38]. Senate
Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Social Services Legislation
Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015 [Provisions], op.
cit.
[39]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill
2016 .
[40]. M
Klapdor and M Thomas, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth
Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015, op. cit., p. 8. A brief analysis
of the measure in its original form is contained in C Ey, M Klapdor, M Thomas
and P Yeend, Social
Services and Other Legislation Amendment (2014 Budget Measures No. 2) Bill 2014,
Bills digest, 16, 2014–15, Parliamentary Library, Canberra,
21 August 2014, pp. 33–36.
[41]. Senate
Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Social Services Legislation
Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015 [Provisions], op.
cit.
[42]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 2016,
op. cit.
[43]. Special
Benefit is a discretionary payment provided to those in financial hardship who
are not able to receive any other form of income support. See Department of
Human Services (DHS), ‘Special
benefit’, DHS website, last updated 11 August 2016.
[44]. See
Department of Employment, Request
for tender for employment services 2015–2020, Department of
Employment, Canberra, 21 November 2014, pp. 33–34.
[45]. Klapdor
and Thomas, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and
Other Measures) Bill 2015, op. cit., pp. 9–13.
[46]. Senate
Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Social Services Legislation
Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015 [Provisions], op.
cit.
[47]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 2016,
op. cit.
[48]. Division
1, Subdivision E of Part 2.11 of the Social Security Act outlines the
requirement for applicants for Youth Allowance to enter into an Employment
Pathway Plan, and details the broad terms of such plans. In most instances, job
seekers have a specific requirement to demonstrate that they are looking for
work, including applying for a certain number of jobs each fortnight. These
requirements are typically included in job seekers’ Employment Pathway Plans,
along with other activities that are deemed necessary to help them gain
employment. These activities could include attendance at various forms of
assessment and assistance and at specified training, work experience and job
interviews. While some of these activities may be optional, others may be
compulsory. As such, job seekers are required to enter into and comply with an
Employment Pathway Plan as a condition of receipt of income support.
[49]. Social
Security Act, proposed subsection 549CAC(3).
[50]. Social
Security Act, proposed paragraph 549CAC(5)(a).
[51]. Social
Security Act, proposed paragraph 549CAC(5)(b).
[52]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 2016,
op. cit., p. 27.
[53]. Social
Security Act, proposed subsection 549CAC(6).
[54]. Social
Security Act, proposed subsection 549CAC(7).
[55]. Social
Security Act, proposed subsection 549CAC(8).
[56]. Klapdor
and Thomas, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and
Other Measures) Bill 2015, op. cit., pp. 11–13.
[57]. See
K Andrews (Minister for Social Services), New
Zealand waiting period for benefits, media release, 23 September 2014
and S Morrison (Minister for Social Services), Doorstop
interview, transcript, Sydney, 6 August 2015.
[58]. Ibid
See also S Morrison, ‘Second
reading speech: Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill
2015’, House of Representatives, Debates,
16 September 2015, p. 10331.
[59]. New
Zealand, Work and Income (WINZ), ‘Pre-benefit
activities’, WINZ website.
[60]. WINZ,
‘Entitlement
date’, WINZ website.
[61]. S
Chapple, ‘When
it comes to the four-week wait for the dole, NZ comparisons ring hollow’, The
Conversation, 18 September 2015.
[62]. See
J Ireland, ‘Federal
Budget 2015: young unemployed will still go hungry, say agencies’, The
Sydney Morning Herald, (online edition), 13 May 2015; and Senate
Community Affairs Legislation Committee, Social Services Legislation
Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures) Bill 2015 [Provisions], 2015,
op. cit.
[63]. S
Morrison, ‘Second reading speech: Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth
Employment) Bill 2015’, op. cit., p. 10331. In his second reading speech on the
Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and Other Measures)
Bill 2015, Minister Morrison noted that $8.1 million in additional funding would
be made available to assist those young people experiencing hardship as a
result of the measure. S Morrison, ‘Second
reading speech: Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and
Other Measures) Bill 2015’, House of Representatives, Debates, 28
May 2015, p. 4970.
[64]. Klapdor
and Thomas, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment and
Other Measures) Bill 2015, op. cit., p. 12.
[65]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Social Services Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 2016,
op. cit.
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