Comment
Welfare reform: what’s in it for the over 50s?
The Government’s committee on welfare reform has released its position paper with some far-reaching recommendations. What will it mean for the over 50s though? VERONICA SHEEN, Council on the Ageing (COTA) national policy officer gives some clues.
Late in 1999, Senator Jocelyn Newman asked a group of experts to examine how Australia could best cope with the burgeoning numbers of Australians reliant on social security (age pensioners are not included in the review).
Indeed some 33 per cent of people between the ages of 50 and 64 receive a social security payment such as carer payment, newstart allowance, disability pension, or mature age allowance. (COTA says that this high proportion reflects the extent of age discrimination in the Australian workforce).
In April, the expert committee delivered a report to the Government which offers some interesting, new approaches. Their plan, very briefly, involves five strands:
• More individualised service delivery: this would involve better assessment of people’s circumstances combined with better support programmes at Centrelink and in the Job Network.
• Simple and responsive income support measures: the idea here is to replace the existing array of payments with one single "participation support" payment with supplements attached for people in particular circumstances such as caring, or unemployment.
• Incentives and assistance to find paid work: the committee suggests
that people need to be given more encouragement to find paid work.
The problem at the moment is that some people are no better off in a
job than they are on social security.
• More social partnerships: this part of the plan involves building up
communities and community enterprises by linking business,
community and individuals at the local level especially in depressed
parts of Australia.
• Mutual obligations extended to business, community, government as
well as individuals: the committee believes that mutual obligation is not
just for individuals receiving social security but also for businesses,
government and the community. For instance, a mutual obligation
would apply to business to make hiring decisions on merit rather than
on age.
COTA believes that many of the ideas presented in the report have merit. Older unemployed people complain to COTA of the poor service and lack of understanding of their circumstances at Centrelink and the Job Network. Better services are long overdue. It would also be very positive to see more of the onus being put on businesses to employ mature people. Many mature age people would like to be given more assistance and incentives to take up opportunities for paid work.
But are there some dangers in the recommendations? The committee discusses the idea of a ‘participation support’ payment to replace existing social security payments. The reality is though that there are differences between people’s circumstances and different payments reflect these differences.
COTA is also concerned about putting more pressures on older, unemployed people to fulfill ‘mutual obligations’ at a time of extreme duress when they have lost a job and are trying to find another. At the same time, better service at Centrelink and the Job Network, without more retraining opportunities, is not going to be enough to help many older workers get a job.
While many of the ideas of the welfare reform committee have merit, they will need adequate funding – and this is the crunch. The Government must be prepared to make some short term investments for some long term gains to help people get back on their feet.
The Interim Report of the Reference Group on Welfare Reform is available on the website at www.facs.gov.au.
