THE Federal Government’s plan to introduce forced income management for welfare recipients across Australia has been described by a national Catholic welfare body as a “move towards a meaner social safety net” and “likely to be counter-productive”.
The income quarantine plan has been proposed as part of Government legislation to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory, suspended by the Howard Government in 2007 to allow certain aspects of the Northern Territory intervention to operate in some indigenous communities.
Catholic Social Services of Australia executive director Frank Quinlan, who last month sent a submission to a Senate inquiry into the proposed legislation, said it was hoped the review process would “yield amendments” to make the proposed legislation fairer.
Mr Quinlan said “a blanket approach” of forced income management would “to a certain extent replace race-based discrimination with class-based discrimination and would hit people doing the right thing, limiting the ability of individuals to manage their own affairs”.
St Vincent de Paul Society national chief executive officer Dr John Falzon told the Senate inquiry, held in Canberra on February 26, the Federal Government was acting in an “exclusionary and divisive” manner.
Dr Falzon told the inquiry this was because the reinstatement of the Racial Discrimination Act has been made dependent on forced income management of welfare recipients across Australia.
About 16,000 people in 73 Northern Territory indigenous communities have their welfare payments quarantined to ensure money is spent on food and clothing, rather than drugs and alcohol.
Mr Quinlan said “adequate income support was an entitlement”.
“It should not be a tool for governments or public sector managements to achieve ‘outcomes’,” he said.
“People should not be asked to forego basic privileges just because of where they live or the income support category into which they fall.
“By planning to impose income quarantining, the Government is basically saying: ‘Even though we’re not meeting our obligations to you, we’re going to load you up with obligations and micro-manage your life’.
“Most people will not see that as a fair deal.”
Quite often individuals were in situations of welfare dependency through no fault of their own, Mr Quinlan said.
“At times there’s a structural failure in the system itself.”
Mr Quinlan said he believed the Government should go back to the drawing board and “revisit the nature of the social contract itself”.
