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2016-2017
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SOCIAL SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT
(QUEENSLAND COMMISSION INCOME MANAGEMENT REGIME) BILL 2017
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by the authority of the
Minister for Social Services, the Hon Christian Porter MP)
SOCIAL SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT
(QUEENSLAND COMMISSION INCOME MANAGEMENT REGIME) BILL 2017
OUTLINE
The Bill amends the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to enable a two year
continuation of the Income Management element of Cape York Welfare Reform. The
continuation of Income Management until 30 June 2019 is a key element of the
reforms and will continue to assist in stabilising people's circumstances and fostering
behavioural change, particularly in the areas of school attendance, parental
responsibility and increasing individual responsibility.
Financial impact statement
MEASURE FINANCIAL IMPACT OVER THE FORWARD
ESTIMATES
Extension of Income Management $145.5 million
in all locations to 30 June 2019
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
The statement of compatibility with human rights appears at the end of this
explanatory memorandum.
SOCIAL SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT
(QUEENSLAND COMMISSION INCOME MANAGEMENT REGIME) BILL 2017
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Abbreviations used in this explanatory memorandum
Social Security Administration Act means the Social Security
(Administration) Act 1999
Clause 1 sets out how the new Act is to be cited - that is, as the Social Services
Legislation Amendment (Queensland Commission Income Management Regime)
Act 2017.
Clause 2 provides a table setting out the commencement date of the various
sections in, and Schedule to, the new Act.
Clause 3 provides that each Act that is specified in a Schedule is amended or
repealed as set out in that Schedule.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Summary
The Bill amends the Social Security Administration Act to enable a two year
continuation of the Income Management element of Cape York Welfare Reform in
the communities of Aurukun, Coen, Hope Vale, and Mossman Gorge. Although not
formally part of the Cape York Welfare Reform partnership, this Bill also applies to
the community of Doomadgee.
The continuation of Income Management until 30 June 2019 is a key element of the
reforms and will continue to assist in stabilising people's circumstances and fostering
behavioural change, particularly in the areas of school attendance, parental
responsibility and increasing individual responsibility.
Background
Continuing the Income Management element of Cape York Welfare Reform
Income Management supports 25,033 vulnerable people in locations across
Australia, including individuals referred by child protection authorities. A high
proportion of Income Management participants are Indigenous.
Funding for Income Management was due to cease on 30 June 2017. Government
has decided to extend Income Management in all existing locations until 30 June
2019.
Extending Income Management for two years ensures continuity of support for
vulnerable participants and will allow Government time to work through future
directions for welfare quarantining.
There are high risks associated with ceasing Income Management without a
mechanism to replace it. An influx of cash into Income Management sites could lead
to an increase in levels of violence, hospitalisation and abuse. Income Management
also increases food security in communities as it encourages community stores to
stock plenty of food and household goods. This could be compromised if Income
Management were to cease on 30 June 2017.
Cape York Welfare Reform is a partnership between the communities of Aurukun,
Coen, Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge, the Australian Government, the Queensland
Government and the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership. It aims to restore
local Indigenous authority, rebuild social norms, encourage positive behaviours, and
improve economic and living conditions.
The Family Responsibilities Commission, which is established under Queensland
Government legislation, is a key part of Cape York Welfare Reform. Local
Commissioners hold conferences with community members, refer people to support
services and, when necessary, can decide to place people on Income Management.
Income Management acts both as a means to ensure financial stability for families
and as an incentive for the individual to engage with support services and make
positive behavioural change.
Currently, a person can be placed on Income Management under Cape York
Welfare Reform only after a decision by the Family Responsibilities Commission
made before 1 July 2017.
This Schedule amends the Social Security Administration Act to extend this date to
1 July 2019, enabling Income Management to continue in the four Cape York
Welfare Reform communities for a further two years.
In 2016, Income Management was extended to the community of Doomadgee. The
same referral pathway (a decision by the Family Responsibilities Commission)
applied in the four Cape York Welfare Reform communities applies in Doomadgee.
As such, this Bill also extends Income Management in Doomadgee for a further two
years.
To date, Cape York Welfare Reform has made a real difference in the lives of
Indigenous people. Since it began in July 2008, these four communities have seen
improved school attendance, care and protection of children and community safety.
A 2012 evaluation of Cape York Welfare Reform found that progress has been made
at the foundational level in stabilising social circumstances and fostering behavioural
change, particularly in the areas of sending children to school, caring for children and
increasing individual responsibility.
Explanation of the changes
Amendments to the Social Security Administration Act
Paragraphs 123UF(1)(g) and 123UF(2)(h) of the Social Security Administration Act
currently provide that a person can be subject to Income Management under section
123UF only after a decision by the Family Responsibilities Commission made before
1 July 2017.
Item 2 omits the references to 1 July 2017 in paragraph 123UF(1)(g) and paragraph
123UF(2)(h), and substitutes references to 1 July 2019.
Statement of compatibility with human rights
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the
Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
SOCIAL SERVICES LEGISLATION AMENDMENT
(QUEENSLAND COMMISSION INCOME MANAGEMENT REGIME) BILL 2017
This Bill 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 Bill [Schedule]
The Bill introduces a minor amendment to the Social Security Administration Act.
Paragraphs 123UF(1)(g) and 123UF(2)(h) of the Social Security Administration Act
provide that a person can only be subject to Income Management under section
123UF after a decision by the Family Responsibilities Commission made before 1
July 2017.
The Bill amends the date in paragraphs 123UF(1)(g) and 123UF(2)(h) to
1 July 2019.
The purpose of the amendment is to allow Income Management to continue in the
Cape York Welfare Reform communities of Aurukun, Coen, Hope Vale and
Mossman Gorge, and the community of Doomadgee, for a further two years. This
aligns with Government's decision to extend Income Management in all existing
locations to
30 June 2019.
Human rights implications
The right to social security
Article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESCR) recognises 'the right of everyone to social security, including social
insurance'. The United Nations Committee of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(the UN Committee) has stated that implementing this right requires a country to,
within its maximum available resources, provide 'a minimum essential level of
benefits to all individuals and families that will enable them to acquire at least
essential health care, basic shelter and housing, water and sanitation, foodstuffs,
and the most basic form of education'.
Measures such as Income Management, which restrict what welfare can be spent
on, do not detract from the eligibility of a person to receive welfare, nor reduce the
amount of a person's social security entitlement. Rather, these types of
arrangements provide a mechanism to ensure that certain recipients of social
security entitlements use a proportion of their entitlement to acquire essential items,
including all of those referred to by the UN Committee.
Statement of compatibility with human rights
The UN Committee has stated that the right to social security encompasses the right
to access and maintain benefits 'in cash or in kind'. Income Management does not
detract from situations in which someone has the right to social security, such as
unemployment and workplace injury, and family and child support - it simply
supports a person further once they have achieved their right to receive social
security.
The right to self-determination
Article 1 of the ICESCR states that 'all peoples have the right of self-determination.
By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue
their economic, social and cultural development'.
The continuation of Income Management will not affect the means of subsistence or
political status of any person or group, but will require that, subject to certain
exceptions, a certain proportion of social security payments of people subject to the
Income Management regime must be spent on priority goods and services such as
food and rent. While Income Management does to an extent limit a person's ability to
spend their social security payments freely on excluded goods and services, it does
not impact on or interfere with their right to pursue freely their economic, social or
cultural development. The limitation under Income Management on how social
security payments may be spent is to ensure that the essential needs of vulnerable
people, including women and children, are met and that they are protected against
risks of homelessness and financial exploitation.
This limitation is reasonable and proportionate to achieve a legitimate objective,
as discussed above, and is necessary to promote other rights by ensuring that
income support payments are used to meet the essential needs of vulnerable people
and their dependents, and that these people are protected against risks of
homelessness and financial exploitation. Any limitation that may occur is therefore
necessary to pursue the legitimate objectives of the program.
The rights of equality and non-discrimination
The rights of equality and non-discrimination are provided by a number of the seven
core international human rights treaties to which Australia is a party, most relevantly
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (the CERD). In particular,
Article 5 of the CERD requires parties 'to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination
in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race,
colour or national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law' notably in the enjoyment
of 'the right to ... social security and social services' (Article 5(e)(iv)).
Discrimination is impermissible differential treatment among persons or groups that
results in a person or a group being treated less favourably than others, based on a
prohibited ground for discrimination, such as race. However, the UN Human Rights
Committee has recognised that 'not every differentiation of treatment will constitute
discrimination, if the criteria for such differentiation are reasonable and objective, and
if the aim is to achieve a purpose which is legitimate under the Covenant'.
Statement of compatibility with human rights
While Income Management does not directly limit the rights of equality and non-
discrimination, it may indirectly limit these rights. Around 85 per cent of Income
Management participants are Indigenous. However, measures such as Income
Management, which restrict what welfare can be spent on, are aimed at achieving
legitimate objectives and are not applied on the basis of race or cultural factors.
Income Management operates in a range of locations which were chosen based on
demonstrated high levels of disadvantage indicated by a range of factors which are
reasonable, objective and non-race based, such as the number of people receiving
welfare payments and the length of time people have been receiving welfare
payments.
People may go onto Income Management for a range of reasons, including:
being in receipt of particular welfare payments; or
having been referred for Income Management; or
having volunteered to participate.
Anyone residing in a location where Income Management operates is eligible for
Income Management, as long as specific eligibility criteria are met. Income
Management is therefore not targeted at people of a particular race, but to income
support recipients who meet particular criteria.
To the extent that Income Management measures may disproportionately affect
Indigenous people, any such limitation is reasonable and proportionate to achieve its
objectives. As evidenced by the evaluations of IM conducted to date in the locations
in which it operates, the program has led to an increase in funds being directed
towards people's priority needs, leading to improvements in wellbeing for individuals,
families and children. Additionally, Cape York Welfare Reform has had a positive
impact on community behaviours such as positive changes in school attendance,
increasing commitment to education by parents, growing Indigenous authority and
decreasing levels of violence.
The right to an adequate standard of living
Article 11(1) of the ICESCR states that everyone has the right to 'an adequate
standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and
housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions', and that
'appropriate steps' be taken to 'ensure realisation of this right'. Further to this,
article 11(2) of the ICESCR states that 'measures, including specific programs,'
should be taken in 'recognising the fundamental right of everyone to be free from
hunger'.
Income Management does not limit the right to an adequate standard of living, as the
program supports individuals to achieve and maintain an adequate standard of living
through the purchase of essential goods and services, including food, clothing, water
and housing. These essential goods are all classified as priority needs under Part 3B
of the Act and income managed funds can be used to purchase them. The program
therefore aims to advance this right by ensuring that money is available for priority
goods and services, such as housing, food and clothing, in situations where
Statement of compatibility with human rights
individuals need additional support to meet these needs. In turn, this helps stabilise
an individual's living circumstances and financial situation, enabling them to focus on
caring for children and/or joining or returning to work.
Income Management does not restrict the availability, adequacy and accessibility of
essential needs required to maintain an adequate standard of living. The availability,
adequacy and accessibility of essential needs is maintained through the ability of
Income Management participants to purchase goods and services through a range
of payment options, including via direct deductions to third parties through the
Department of Human Services and a wide footprint of merchants that accept
BasicsCard, both within and outside areas in which Income Management currently
operates.
The right to a private life
Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, sets out the right
to a private life. It prohibits arbitrary or unlawful interferences with an individual's
privacy, family, correspondence or home.
Income Management seeks to direct welfare towards priority needs such as housing,
food and clothing. It does this by quarantining a certain proportion of income support
payments made to Income Management participants and restricting what it can be
spent on.
By limiting a person's choice in how they access and spend their money, Income
Management impacts on the right to a private life. However, this limitation on a
person's right to a private life is reasonable and proportionate to achieve Income
Management's objectives of ensuring income support payments are used to meet
the essential needs of vulnerable people and their dependents.
Conclusion
The amendment is compatible with human rights. Income Management will advance
the protection of human rights by ensuring that income support payments are spent
in the best interests of welfare payment recipients and their dependents. To the
extent they may limit human rights, those limitations are reasonable, necessary and
proportionate to achieving the legitimate objective of reducing immediate hardship
and deprivation, reducing violence and harm, particularly against women and
children, encouraging socially responsible behaviour, and reducing the likelihood that
welfare payment recipients will be subject to harassment and abuse in relation to
their welfare payments.
Statement of compatibility with human rights
[Circulated by the authority of the Minister for Social Services,
the Hon Christian Porter MP]