Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission
A Modest Spend Masks Welfare Crack Downs
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission is concerned that the spending on Welfare Reform in the Budget is grossly inadequate. Toughened activity tests and compliance crackdowns remain the cornerstone of the Coalition’s designs.
Mr Toby O’Connor, the National Director, offered support for some of the Coalition’s welfare initiatives: "The Working Credit initiative, $800 training credits for Work-for- the-Dole participants and older job seekers, increased child care places, improved resources for Centrelink and the Job Network are very welcomed. The seamless integration of Job Network with other support programs is visionary and holds great potential.
A Sign of Hope for the Homeless
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission has welcomed the launch of the National Homelessness Strategy and the Australian Federation of Homelessness Organisations by Senator Jocelyn Newman, Minister for Family and Community Services.
The National Homelessness Strategy aims to co-ordinate a range of previously funded programs addressing the needs of people who are homeless and to undertake national consultations to develop new policies in this area. Mr John Ferguson, Acting National Director of the Commission said, "The co-ordination of initiatives around the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program for a more holistic approach aimed at prevention and early intervention will provide a stronger basis for addressing growing rates of homelessness in Australia."
Charities "no worse off"?
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission has joined with other groups in calling for charities to be exempt and for the compliance costs of the Goods and Services Tax to be minimised as a matter of urgency.
Mr John Ferguson, Acting National Director of the Commission, said "The Prime Minister gave assurances last year that charities would be no worse off under the GST. However, research and forward planning of charities and academic bodies have made it clear that this promise is unlikely to be honoured without a revised understanding by the Government of what constitutes a charity and how their good works should be supported under a new tax system.
Charities Look Forward to GST Discussions
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission welcomes the concerns expressed by Mr Beazley in relation to the impacts of the GST on charities.
The National Director, Mr Toby O’Connor, said: "Charities appreciate and welcome the Opposition Leader’s commitment to addressing the impacts of the GST on the provision of emergency assistance by charities. Under this unjust tax regime charities must pay GST for emergency assistance items for disadvantaged people, such as heating bills and other essentials, for which the charities are not compensated.
"As a result the Charities themselves have hundreds of thousands less to spend on disadvantaged families. This tax slug is in addition to the crippling compliance costs of the GST on Charities.
Government Must 'Restore the Balance' for Job Seekers
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission has expressed concerns over the Commonwealth Government's Australia Day announcement to substantially toughen the job search requirements and penalties to be imposed on unemployed Australians.
The strengthening of so-called Mutual Obligation requirements outlined in this announcement include: the requirement for the unemployed to increase the number of job applications they make each fortnight; a wider application of the dole diary among the unemployed; and, the cancellation of payments for recipients leaving part-time work, which is often precarious and poorly paid.
Government Responsibility - Key to Mutual Obligations
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission welcomes key directions of the Interim Report on Welfare Reform but remains apprehensive over the potential for this Report to be used to the detriment of those most in need. There is a danger that the selective reading of this Report could support the position that accepts an increase in the obligations on welfare recipients without adequate scrutiny of the corresponding responsibilities of Government.
The Acting National Director, Mr John Ferguson, said "The Report recommends some worthy initiatives of individualised service delivery, a simpler payment structure and increased incentives to improve the opportunities for those who are most disadvantaged in our community. However, support for such initiatives should be tempered by concerns about the continued emphasis on Mutual Obligation.
In Praise of Reconciliation
Representatives of the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission participating in today's "Walk for Reconciliation" offer their congratulations to the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation regarding the events of the last few days. These public gatherings have clearly demonstrated the fruits of years of discernment and a desire to foster the common good. In the face of many hardships and apparent obstacles this Council has worked hard to meld a strong awareness of past injustice with an equally forceful desire to build a better future.
Fr John Usher, Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission said, "A significant aspect of recent gatherings has been the willingness of so many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to focus on the potential for a better tomorrow for all of us. Such generosity of heart is a tremendous gift to this society.
Long-term Pain for Little Gain
Two years ago the Treasurer delivered his third Budget claiming a surplus of $2.7 billion and a projected surplus of around $10 billion by 2001. Australians were told this surplus was the result of good economic management, the efficient use of the tax-payer's money and had given Australia the highest growth rates in the developed world.
The Treasurer has now announced a cash surplus of only $2.8 billion based on a projected $2.6 billion raised from the sale of radio spectrum licences. However, there appears to have been little social capital resulting from the economic growth of the past four years. The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission has welcomed a number of the Budget's social initiatives but questioned the Government's commitment to deliver a significant 'social dividend' on the fiscal stringency of the past four budgets.
Mandatory Sentencing - No Solution
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission has joined other church and community groups in challenging mandatory sentencing. Underpinning this call is a concern that such a system institutionalises the disadvantage already experienced by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
A key function of the legal system should be to ensure that the courts do not reinforce factors that lead to social inequality. The use of mandatory sentencing eliminates the opportunity for the exercise of discretion. This lessens the quality of justice that courts can dispense. To incarcerate people without taking into account any mitigating circumstances is to undermine their human dignity.
On the Roads Again
Despite questioning its adequacy, the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission welcomes the Government's regional roads package as a first step towards meeting the Regional Australia Summit's call for a 'sustained and long-term programme of infrastructure development.' The Commission is pleased to note the responsibility devolved to local governments in determining where funds are best allocated and the recognition of needs encompassing metropolitan regions. This points to a recognition by Government of the great diversity of regions requiring assistance and helps move debate beyond the divisive 'rural versus metropolitan' distinction.
One year after the Regional Australia Summit - much still to be done
The Committee formed by the Government following the Regional Australia Summit called for a "comprehensive and convincing response to the challenges faced by regional Australia." More than a year on, the nation's most disadvantaged regions are still waiting.
Today the Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission release a discussion paper, 'Regional Australia in a Globalised Economy: Towards a Responsible Framework for Regional Development', which addresses the nation's glaring regional disparities and calls on the Federal Government to adopt a coherent framework for regional development.
Overdue Basic Banking Product Welcomed
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission gave qualified support to the Basic Banking Product introduced today in Melbourne by the National Australia Bank and called on the whole retail banking sector to follow suit.
Mr Toby O’Connor, National Director, stated: "Ever since the Prices Surveillance Authority Inquiry of the mid 1990s, this Commission has called for a fee-free account for low income Australians, to be introduced by all of the major banks. Since that time the community has seen minimal progress in terms of concrete banking products for low-income Australians.
Reform Short on Detail
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission is concerned that real evidence of the Government’s commitment to Welfare Reform has now been delayed until the next Budget and remains at risk until then. It will certainly delay implementation of positive aspects of the McClure Report. The Commission is also concerned that the Government has failed to ground its reforms in the dignity of the person.
Executive Secretary Toby O’Connor said: "The Commission is adamant that the Government’s populist mutual obligation framework remains deeply flawed. The extension of Work-for-the-Dole to the older unemployed is problematic and the Commission will continue to recommend caution for Catholic Church agencies considering involvement in these schemes.
Regeneration - Not Just Welfare Reform
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission today welcomed many of the proposals contained in the Final Report on Welfare Reform but remains concerned that its recommendations may provide the opportunity for Government to simply get tough on welfare recipients.
The Acting National Director of the ACSWC, Mr John Ferguson, responded to the government appointed report, "There is broad consensus in the Australian community that the social security system has not kept pace with growing and changing community needs and requires reform. But the high rates of joblessness, underemployment and reliance on government benefits, cited as the reason for this reform, are not entirely the result of the performance of the social security system. The disadvantage experienced among many groups and regions of Australia despite a decade of strong economic growth is more an indictment on our broader economic systems."
Seven Steps to Real Welfare Reform
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission today issued Seven Principles for Welfare Reform, calling on the Government to cease penalising the poor.
Encouraging the Government to embrace these principles in next week’s Federal Budget, National Director Toby O’Connor said: "The Commission urges the Government to heed the welfare sector’s call to reform its concept of Mutual Obligation, which must be grounded in a concern for the human dignity of income support recipients."
The Seven Principles include calls for the adequate funding of Welfare Reform, an improved standard of living for recipients, and for job creation to be at the centre of the reform process.
The Stolen Generation: One Too Many
Mr John Ferguson, Acting National Director of the Commission said, "Limiting a response to the Inquiry into the Stolen Generation to a numerical analysis fails to appreciate the enormous toll on generations of indigenous people who have endured the consequences of forced removal.
UNCHAIN OUR CHARITIES
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission applauds the commitment made by Mr Beazley in the Budget Reply to address the destructive impact of the GST on charities if elected to Government.
The GST has been revealed not only to punish the poor, to be unfairly burdensome on the nation’s small businesses, but also to unjustly slug charities and prevent them from assisting the poor with emergency relief.
The National Director, Mr Toby O’Connor, said: "Under the New Tax System, charities must pay GST on emergency assistance items for disadvantaged people for which the charities are not compensated. Charities are caught up in a crippling administrative burden of GST red tape, which must be funded at the expense of services to clients."
Vigilance Urged Over GST
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission today called on the Australian community to remain calm but vigilant over the impact of the GST in its first year of operation. The Commission also urged Government not to rule out changes to the GST and immediate increases to compensation where vulnerable individuals and families are discernibly worse off following its introduction.
Mr John Ferguson, Acting National Director of the Commission said, "It is inevitable that the response within the community to the GST has been sharply divided. Some are lauding its praises while others are fearful of its impact on their own financial circumstances and the well-being of those made vulnerable to significant increases in costs of living. It is understandable that angst over the uncertainties of this tax are reaching fever-pitch in the final days before its implementation.
Vinnies Recommendations Welcomed
The Australian Catholic Social Welfare Commission welcomes the Report issued today by the St Vincent de Paul Society, Two Australias: Addressing Inequality and Poverty.
National Director Toby O’Connor said: "Vinnies have reminded the nation of the single most important problem facing Australia: the scandalous inequality between rich and poor in our society. The Vinnies Report is a timely and invaluable contribution to a debate that must now take place. Vinnies are correct to warn us that the gap between rich and poor is now so wide that unless action is taken, two separate ‘nations’ may emerge within Australia.
Welfare 'Window Dressing' Hides Unemployed and Regional Disadvantage
On Sunday 3 December the Australian Local Government Association launched the State of the Regions 2000 Report, prepared by the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research. Confirming the lived experience of many families and regional communities, the Report reveals that the real unemployment rate is in fact substantially higher than the Government claims, and that the employment situation in the most impoverished regions is especially dire.
Mr Toby O'Connor, Executive Secretary, said "State of the Regions 2000 has shot holes in Government claims of dramatic improvements in unemployment rates. The Report finds that social security policy changes made by Governments over the 1990s, particularly large scale shifts of unemployment benefit recipients into other forms of social security support and tightened work activity tests have, 'artificially lowered the national and regional unemployment rates, especially in high unemployment regions'. Much of the decline in the official unemployment rate has reflected Government 'window dressing', the Report argues. Participants in mutual obligation schemes, such as work for the dole, are not considered as officially unemployed.
