to ensure that the most marginalised are not left on the scrapheap as
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Australia that provide free
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about Social Security law
and its administration
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Media Release
15 October
Words not enough to create
social inclusion in Anti-Poverty Week
“A vision for a socially inclusive Australia must include a decent safety net for
people who fall on hard times”, said Kate Beaumont, President of the National
Welfare Rights Network (NWRN) today. Ms Beaumont addressed delegates at
the Australian Services Union state conference in Melbourne today during Anti-
Poverty Week.
“All Australians who are unemployed should receive the best support possible to
get them into work, or back to work. Where this is not possible, they must still able
to participate in society and be treated with dignity and respect. The Government
needs to ensure that the most marginalised are not left on the scrapheap as
Australia enters these tentative stages of economic recovery.
”Government members who have defended the failure to increase benefits for the
650,000 Australians who are unemployed are just plain wrong. It is shameful how
we treat people who are unemployed. It is also shameful for our leading politicians
to say it is okay for those on Newstart Allowance to be expected to live on
payments which are $122 a week less than the poverty line. Our social security
system is becoming more unequal and Government policy is fuelling the divisions
between the ‘undeserving, the less deserving and more deserving‘.
“How is an unemployed person supposed to live on a pittance of just $32 a day
and look for work? Newstart Allowance is $108 a week less than the pension.
“One the positive side, the Government’s decision to prioritise job retention,
minimise job losses and provide opportunities for skills acquisition has proved to
be beneficial to many who may otherwise have ended up joining the queues at
Centrelink.
“The Rudd Government modified the Liquid Assets Waiting Period so that people
losing their jobs were eligible for income support earlier if they had modest
savings. From April 2009, they offered immediate access to more intensive
employment assistance to recently retrenched job seekers.
“It would be both illogical for these beneficial changes to end in 2011. The
Government should commit to making these sensible, practical reforms a
permanent feature of the range of policies aimed at getting people into work, and
supporting those unable to find work. It would be foolish to think that
unemployment levels have peaked. More people will join the 150,000 who’ve lost
their jobs in the last 12 months.
“Measures to provide greater protection for people with modest redundancy
payments, reduce Centrelink payment waiting periods and improve access to
superannuation for those in hardship faced with exceptional circumstances are
urgently required.
“The Review into the Future of the Australian Tax and Transfer System is due in
December. The NWRN is hopeful that the opportunity for reform will not be
missed. At a time when the Government is talking about social inclusion and
human rights attention must focus on fixing the holes in the safety net for both the
unemployed and underemployed.”
For comment: Kate Beaumont, NWRN President: 0414 792 923.
Gerard Thomas, NWRN Policy and Media Officer: 0425 296 882.
NEWS 
