Extract from The Guardian
Social services groups tell Senate inquiry that planned delay in
welfare would put young people and women in violent relationships in
danger
Young people and women fleeing violent partners will be put in danger if welfare is withheld, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
A plan by the government to make under-25s wait a month, and parents a week, for the dole was strongly opposed by social services groups at a Senate inquiry on Wednesday.
The nation’s peak welfare body and the National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children (NCSMC) both raised concerns about the impact on women affected by domestic violence.
The Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss) believes the “punitive” legislation before federal parliament would result in some women falling through the cracks.
Although there are waiting exemptions for those affected by domestic violence, the NCSMC said very few women admitted to being victims.
Any waiting period could hold them back from fleeing violent relationships because they had no money, putting them and their children in danger.
It feared exemptions for vulnerable women may not be properly managed.
“We are concerned ... there will be some very vulnerable families suffering because of that process,” its chief executive, Terese Edwards, told the hearing.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed thousands of young people face waiting longer than others to get the dole.
The social services department estimates 10,000 youths will wait 10 weeks, instead of four, over a 12-month period. These are people who worked in the first six months of the year but then became jobless because of casual or short-term work.
The four-week wait stretches to five when an existing mandatory one-week wait for welfare is taken into account, the hearing was told.
Social workers argued vulnerable youths would be further traumatised if they were forced to go through more hurdles to get payments.
The Australian Association of Social Workers questioned the government’s plan.
Its senior manager, Stephen Brand, questioned whether the savings were worth it, when the effect on young people was taken into account.
A plan by the government to make under-25s wait a month, and parents a week, for the dole was strongly opposed by social services groups at a Senate inquiry on Wednesday.
The nation’s peak welfare body and the National Council of Single Mothers and Their Children (NCSMC) both raised concerns about the impact on women affected by domestic violence.
The Australian Council of Social Service (Acoss) believes the “punitive” legislation before federal parliament would result in some women falling through the cracks.
Although there are waiting exemptions for those affected by domestic violence, the NCSMC said very few women admitted to being victims.
Any waiting period could hold them back from fleeing violent relationships because they had no money, putting them and their children in danger.
It feared exemptions for vulnerable women may not be properly managed.
“We are concerned ... there will be some very vulnerable families suffering because of that process,” its chief executive, Terese Edwards, told the hearing.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed thousands of young people face waiting longer than others to get the dole.
The social services department estimates 10,000 youths will wait 10 weeks, instead of four, over a 12-month period. These are people who worked in the first six months of the year but then became jobless because of casual or short-term work.
The four-week wait stretches to five when an existing mandatory one-week wait for welfare is taken into account, the hearing was told.
Social workers argued vulnerable youths would be further traumatised if they were forced to go through more hurdles to get payments.
The Australian Association of Social Workers questioned the government’s plan.
Its senior manager, Stephen Brand, questioned whether the savings were worth it, when the effect on young people was taken into account.
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