Social Security Amendment (Supporting More Australians into Work) Bill 2013
Information about the Inquiry
On 30 May 2013 the Senate referred the Social Security Amendment (Supporting More Australians into Work) Bill 2013 for inquiry and report.
The Senate has referred to the Education, Employment and the Workplace Relations Legislation Committee the Social Security Amendment (Supporting More Australians into Work) Bill 2013, for inquiry and report by 17 June 2013. The bill contains three key measures:
- The bill proposes to increase the income free area that applies for recipients of Newstart Allowance, Widow Allowance, Partner Allowance, Parenting Payment (Partnered) and Sickness Allowance. The income free area would increase from $62 to $100 per fortnight, from 20 March 2014, and would be subject to annual indexation.
- The bill proposes to extend the eligibility for the Pensioner Education Supplement to single principal carer parents receiving Newstart Allowance Payments, from 1 January 2014.
- The bill proposes to provide a 12 week extension of eligibility for the Pensioner Concession Card to single parents who are no longer qualified for Parenting Payment (Single) because their youngest child has turned 8 years of age, and who do not qualify for another income support payment due to earnings. This measure would commence on 1 January 2014.
Submissions should be received by 11 June 2013. The reporting date is 17 June 2013.
The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to eewr.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.
Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:
Committee Secretary
Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committees
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
Notes to help you prepare your submission are available from the website at https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm. Alternatively, the Committee Secretariat will be able to help you with your inquiries and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 6277 3521 or facsimile +61 2 6277 5706 or by email to eewr.sen@aph.gov.au.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to Parliament House TTY number 02 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools at http://access.adobe.com/ for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. If you require any special arrangements to enable you to participate in the Committee's inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat.
Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential Committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee's permission. If you do, it will not be protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public and places them on its website. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.
For further information, contact: Committee Secretary
Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committees
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia