National roll out of welfare quarantining-scheme on the cards

Thousands of sole parents will be disadvantaged by the federal government’s compulsory income management scheme, welfare groups say.

Rolled out in the Northern Territory today, the welfare reform will see the government control at least 50 per cent of regular welfare payments made to working age people, regardless of how well they manage their money.

The Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) says the changes are the first step in introducing a national welfare quarantining-scheme.

“This poorly targeted, expensive scheme is a gamble with the daily lives of people on the lowest incomes, and a gamble with taxpayers funds,” said Clare Martin, CEO, ACOSS.

A sole parent from Hornsby, Petra Hilton, is concerned that the government’s scheme will make living on welfare payments more difficult.

“It’s like the Government is assuming that because I’m a single mother it must mean that I am a bad person who drinks and smokes and can’t look after her kid. It’s just not the case,” she said.

Petra says the money she receives on the parenting payment is spent on essentials like groceries and utility bills, leaving little money at the end of the week for luxuries.

“Sole parents like myself are canny shoppers because we have to be,” she said.

“We get the grocery catalogue each week and my son knows he can’t ask for anything that’s not on special.”

Petra said that losing control of half her weekly income would hurt her 13-year-old son the most.

“Children of sole parents are already being forced to live in poverty and now the government is making it clear that their family is different to everyone else’s,” she said.

But Family, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin said the welfare reform would protect vulnerable people in the community.

“It ensures that more welfare is spent in the interests of children on life essentials, including food, clothes and housing costs, and less welfare goes to problem behaviours like gambling and alcohol abuse,” the Minister said.

While income management will supposedly apply to recipients for short amounts of time, many sole parents with young children will effectively remain under the scheme for a long time.

Chair of the Women’s Electoral Lobby Eva Cox says nearly all recipients of the parenting payment or Newstart allowance will have to apply for exemption to retain control over their money.

“It will impact on the mass of sole parents who will have to either accept having half of their income controlled or prove that they are good mothers,” she said.

Exemptions for sole parents include proving that you are a responsible parent, where parents with pre-school age children (48 months) must show that their child is enrolled in structured activities such as childcare or play groups.

Terese Edwards, CEO of National Council for Single Mothers and Their Children pointed out that mothers support their children by spending time with friends or informal playgroups.

“It appears this would not be considered ‘structured activity’ and therefore would not meet the responsible parenting test,” she said.

There are an estimated 4400 sole parents in the Northern Territory, with the government allocating $410 million over five years to manage the 20,000 welfare recipients.

While Minister Macklin has indicated that a national roll out of income management would not occur before late 2011, Opposition leader Tony Abbott has said that if elected he would implement a national scheme immediately.

Under the scheme, income management would apply to all people under 25 who have been on welfare for more than three months or people over 25 on welfare for a year.

“It is not plausible that the Government can make the most appropriate decisions about family expenditure for hundreds of thousands of families in diverse situations,” Ms Edwards said.