Social Security (Administration) (Classes of Exempt Welfare Payment Recipients) Specification 2012

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

The Social Security (Administration) (Classes of Exempt Welfare Payment Recipients) Specification 2012 (the Specification) is made under subsection 123UGB(2) of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (the Act). The Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Minister for Disability Reform, as well as making the Determination in her own capacity, is also making it on behalf of the Minister for Education and the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations.

Background

As part of the 2011-12 Budget, the Australian Government is implementing the Building Australia’s Future Workforce package. This includes introducing new measures to promote long term economic participation in various of the nation’s most disadvantaged communities. The measures involve extra responsibilities and more assistance for teenage parents on income support, jobless families and other vulnerable groups, to support children and families and help parents enter or return to the workforce.

As part of this package, income management is being introduced into five new sites from 1 July 2012. These sites were chosen because they demonstrated a high level of disadvantage, based on a number of factors including unemployment levels, youth unemployment, skills gaps, educational achievement, the numbers of people receiving welfare payments, and the length of time people have been on income support payments.

Income management will apply to vulnerable families and individuals in these communities, including:

people referred for income management by State child protection authorities, where they assess that a child is at risk (the child protection measure);
people assessed by Centrelink Social Workers as being vulnerable by reference to factors including financial crisis and risk of homelessness (vulnerable welfare payment recipient measure); and
people who volunteer for income management (voluntary income management).

Declaration of these areas also commences income management measures applying to disengaged youth and long-term welfare payment recipients in the five areas. However, exemptions from these measures may be granted where an individual is included in a class of persons specified by legislative instrument to be exempt welfare payment recipients. This instrument specifies classes of persons for the purposes of exemptions.

Purpose

This Specification specifies as classes, persons whose usual place of residence is within one of five local government areas located in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria. The specified local government areas coincide with those declared from 1 July 2012 as income management areas by separate instrument. Schedule 1 covers New South Wales, Schedule 2 covers Queensland, Schedule 3 covers South Australia and Schedule 4 covers Victoria. These classes of residents are exempt welfare payment recipients.

The Specification will enable the Secretary to determine, by writing under subsection 123UGB(1), that a person is an exempt welfare payment recipient if the Secretary is satisfied that the person is included in one of the classes of persons specified in this instrument.

The Determination is a legislative instrument and commences on 1 July 2012, as provided for in section 2 of the Determination.

Consultation

Ongoing consultations have been undertaken with State child protection and housing authorities with a view to entering into bilateral agreements between the Commonwealth and State governments that finalise referral protocols to income management. In conjunction with these consultations, the Commonwealth has held regular meetings with stakeholders in the five sites, including community organisations that have raised concerns, with a particular focus on income management.

Consultation on the Determination was undertaken with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and with the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.

Regulatory Impact Analysis

The Determination is not regulatory in nature, will not impact on business activity and will have no, or minimal, compliance costs or competition impact.

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Social Security (Administration) (Classes of Exempt Welfare Payment Recipients) Specification 2012

This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Overview of the Legislative Instrument

Part 3B of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 establishes an income management regime that applies to recipients of certain welfare payments. If a person is subject to the income management regime under Part 3B, the Secretary will deduct amounts from the person’s relevant welfare payments and credit those amounts to the person’s income management account. The Secretary may then debit amounts from the person’s income management account, in accordance with Part 3B, for the purpose of taking actions directed to meeting the priority needs of the person or his or her dependants.

Human rights implications

The Social Security (Administration) (Classes of Exempt Welfare Payment Recipients) Specification 2012 does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.

Conclusion

The Social Security (Administration) (Classes of Exempt Welfare Payment Recipients) Specification 2012 is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.

Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs

Administered by Department of Social Services

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