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Social Security Legislation Amendment
(Increased Employment Participation) Bill 2014
Portfolio:
Employment
Introduced: House
of Representatives, 27 February 2014
Purpose
2.1
The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Increased Employment
Participation) Bill 2014 sought to amend the Social Security Act 1991,
the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, and the Income Tax
Assessment Act 1997 to enable the implementation of the Job Commitment
Bonus and the 'Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job' programme.
2.2
The Job Commitment Bonus payment will provide job seekers aged 18-30 who
have been receiving Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance (other than as an
apprentice or full time student) for 12 months or more with:
-
a $2 500 payment, if they undertake gainful work and remain off
income support for a continuous period of 12 months; and
-
a further $4 000 to eligible job seekers if they remain in a job
and do not receive an income support payment for a continuous period of 24
months, for a total payment of $6 500.
2.3
If job seekers later return to receipt of an income support payment and
then qualify again for the Job Commitment Bonus, they will be able to receive a
further Job Commitment Bonus (that is, a further $2 500, or $2 500 plus an
additional $4000, depending on whether the further period of work is 12 or 24
months).
2.4
The 'Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job' programme is intended to
replace a current scheme that provided relocation assistance to job-seekers,
called ‘Move 2 Work’. The replacement scheme will come into effect on 1 July
2014 and will provide financial assistance to long term unemployed job seekers
with participation requirements who have been receiving Newstart Allowance,
Youth Allowance or Parenting Payment for at least the preceding 12 months, to
relocate for the purposes of commencing ongoing employment.
2.5
Those who relocate to a regional area (whether from a metropolitan area
or another regional area) will receive up to $6 000. Those who move to a
metropolitan area from a regional area will receive up to $3 000. Relocations
between capital cities (metropolitan areas) will be limited to cases where the
relocation is to a capital city with a lower unemployment rate. Families with
dependent children will be provided with up to an additional $3 000.
2.6
The bill also seeks to introduce a non-payment period of 26 weeks for
which the relevant income support payment is not payable if the person ends
their employment because of their own voluntary act or misconduct within a
period of 6 months of the relocation assistance being paid. This requirement
will apply to participants in the new 'Relocation Assistance to Take Up a Job'
programme. The current non-payment period of 12 weeks will continue to apply to
participants in the present 'Move 2 Work' programme.
Background
2.7
The committee reported on the bill in its Third Report of the 44th
Parliament.
2.8
The bill was subsequently passed by the Parliament and received Royal
Assent on 18 June 2014.
Committee view on compatibility
Right to equality and
non-discrimination
Exclusion on protected Special
Category Visa holders
2.9
The committee sought clarification from the minister as to why it is
considered necessary to exclude protected Special Category Visa (SCV) holders
from accessing the Job Commitment Bonus, and the basis for considering that
their inclusion may jeopardise the goals of the measure.
Assistant Minister's response
The Australian Government considers it necessary to exclude
protected Special Category Visa holders from eligibility and this exclusion is
consistent with the 2001 Social Security Agreement between Australia and New
Zealand.
The Job Commitment Bonus is an incentive for Australians 18-
30 years of age who have been recipients of certain income support payments for
12 months or more, to find and remain in gainful work for 12 months or more
while remaining off income support.
The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Increased
Employment Participation) Act 2014 provides that a person must be an
Australian resident throughout the period of work on which they rely to claim
the Job Commitment Bonus.
For the purpose of the Job Commitment Bonus, the term
'Australian resident' is defined as a person who resides in Australia and who
is an Australian citizen or who is the holder of a permanent visa. The term
does not include a person who resides in Australia and is the holder of a
protected Special Category Visa. Protected Special Category Visa holders are
able to apply to become an 'Australian resident'.
Broadly, protected Special Category Visa holders are New
Zealand citizens who arrived in Australia on a New Zealand passport and were in
Australia on 26 February 2001, or were in Australia for 12 months in the two
years immediately before this date and later returned to Australia, or who are
in certain other similar categories. New Zealand citizens are able to work in
Australia due to the 1973 Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement.
The designation of protected Special Category Visa holders
came as a result of the bilateral Social Security Agreement between Australia
and New Zealand announced on 26 February 2001. The agreement only sets out
arrangements for the payment of Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and
Carer Payment to New Zealand citizens in Australia. Importantly, the agreement
recognised the right of each country to determine access to social security
benefits not covered by the agreement and to set related residence and
citizenship rules within legislative and policy frameworks. The Social
Security legislation Amendment (Increased Employment Participation) Act 2014
is not intended to alter access to income support related payments that were
negotiated in the 2001 agreement.
The Job Commitment Bonus is not aimed at providing support to
people so that they can meet the basic costs of living- that is the purpose of
income support. Protected Special Category Visa holders can normally claim
income support as long as they satisfy the usual qualification criteria and
serve any relevant waiting periods. Protected Special Category Visa holders'
ineligibility for the Job Commitment Bonus does not impact on their access to
income support.
Getting more Australians into paid employment has both
economic and social benefits for individuals, their families and the community
and therefore it is reasonable to provide an incentive for certain young
Australians to find and remain in gainful work. However, it is necessary to set
parameters on the eligibility for the Job Commitment Bonus (for example, the age
requirements and the requirements for persons to have been on certain income
support payments for 12 months and to remain in gainful work for at least 12
months).[1]
Committee response
2.10
The committee thanks the Assistant Minister for Employment for
his response and has concluded its examination of this matter.
Right to social security
Increase of non-payment period from
12 to 26 weeks
2.11
The committee sought the following information from the minister:
-
The levels of assistance provided under the current ‘Move 2 Work’
programme, including how the present 12-week non-payment period correlates with
the applicable relocation assistance provided to eligible individuals.
-
Whether for some individuals the proposed 26-week non-payment
period may amount to more than the relocation assistance received.
Assistant Minister's response
[...] The Social Security Legislation Amendment (Increased
Employment Participation) Act 2014 maintains the previous 12 week
non-payment period rather than the originally proposed 26 weeks non-payment
period.
Under the current Move 2 Work programme eligible job seekers
may be reimbursed up to $6500 if relocating with dependants and $4500 if
relocating with no dependants. Under the new Relocation Assistance to Take Up a
Job programme, those who relocate to a regional area, whether from a capital
city or another regional area, will receive up to $6000. Those who move to a
capital city from a regional area will receive up to $3000. Families with
dependent children will be provided with up to an additional $3000. A maximum
of $9000 of assistance is available.
The maximum financial impact of a 12 weeks non-payment period
is $4197.60 for an individual receiving Parenting Payment (Parenting Payment
has higher payment rates than Newstart Allowance or Youth Allowance).
The 12 week non-payment period is considered to be a penalty
for job seekers who choose not to remain in a job for which they have relocated
and received generous relocation assistance. While in some cases the amount of
relocation assistance received by a person could be less than the financial
impact of the 12 week non-payment period, it is important to note that the
non-payment period will continue to be able to be ended at any time, based on
existing provisions in the social security law, for certain cohorts of job
seekers (including those with children) who are in severe financial hardship.
The maximum non-payment period is therefore consistent with
the right to social security and the right to an adequate standard of living,
as explained in the statement of compatibility with human rights for the Social
Security Legislation Amendment (Increased Employment Participation) Bill 2014.
As also noted in the Social Security Legislation Amendment
(Increased Employment Participation) Bill 2014 statement of compatibility with
human rights, it is necessary to discourage job seekers from not only making
ill-considered decisions to relocate, but from relocating purely to take
illegitimate advantage of financial assistance from the Commonwealth without a
genuine intention of remaining in the job for which they purportedly relocated.
This will help ensure that finite resources are used for the benefit of genuine
job seekers, to assist those genuine job seekers to realise their right to
work.[2]
Committee response
2.12
The committee thanks the Assistant Minister for Employment for
his response and has concluded its examination of this matter.
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