The Australian Greens MPs
The Senate has supported a Greens referral to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee to conduct a Senate inquiry into the purpose, intent and adequacy of the Disability Support Pension (DSP).
There have been a series of changes and cost-saving measures over recent years that have reduced the number of people able to access the Disability Support Program. Since then, there has been a sharp decline in people applying for and being approved for the DSP.
These changes have also seen a significant increase in sick and disabled people on other payments and having to deal with the JobActive and Disability Employment Services system. These changes also mean that many people must complete a so called Program of Support.
JobSeeker needs to provide a reasonable safety net
It took a recession, invoked by a 2020 devastated by the COVID pandemic, to see the Federal Government intervene and provide welfare that brought unemployed folk in Australia above the poverty line .
Government interventions at state and federal levels have been critical in staving off destitution for many over the past months, but while the pandemic continues, federal supports are tapering off. I don’t think it is biased to say that Victoria’s economic situation is particularly important to take into account, given the Melbourne lockdown and its ongoing ramifications. Many people are still doing it tough. And the many organisations who are tasked with trying to support them share a sense of dismay as we see Federal Government assistance being wound back fast, although the number of people receiving an unemployment related benefit are more than double that of pre-pandemic Australia. We need to increase decent work oppo
Australian government says no to shuttering Centrelink compliance after robo-debt inquiry
It also isn t interested in having an independent review launched into the policy, design, administration, and impact of Centrelink s compliance program.
February 12, 2021 04:39 GMT (20:39 PST) | Topic: Innovation
The federal government has published its response to a report prepared by a committee looking into Centrelink s compliance program, the automation of which was colloquially known as robo-debt, supporting only in-principle one of the five recommendations that were made.
The Senate Community Affairs References Committee in its second interim report asked the government to completely terminate the program. The government said no.