Planned changes to the welfare system will force older Australians out of volunteering, threatening the long-term viability of the sector, an inquiry has heard.
Currently, welfare recipients aged 55 and over can receive Newstart or a special benefit payment if they complete at least 30 hours of volunteering a fortnight.
The federal government, as part of its current welfare system overhaul, is eroding the ability of older Australians to use volunteering to satisfy activity tests.
The planned change would force welfare recipients to combine volunteering with at least 15 hours of paid work to satisfy the 30-hour test.
The federal government said the change would have a “minimal impact” on the number of volunteers or the hours they contribute, and that only 8,016 jobseekers currently used volunteering to satisfy their welfare requirements.
“While volunteering has a range of benefits, participation in paid work and reduced reliance on income support should be the ultimate goal for jobseekers,” is said in the explanatory memorandum to the legislation.
But the volunteering sector has warned the changes, without creating more jobs, will not help older Australians get into paid work and will only serve to damage volunteer groups.
Volunteering Australia, a peak body for volunteering groups, told a Senate inquiry on Thursday that older Australians were disadvantaged in an already difficult job market, where only one job was available for every 10 jobseekers.
Its chief executive, Adrienne Picone, said the prospects for older Australians were particularly poor in regional and remote areas.
“Volunteering Australia emphasises that the tightening of the activity requirements will do little to improve the job prospects of older Australians, who are an already disadvantaged group in the job market,” she said.
“It moves people away from volunteering positions [and] will have a detrimental impact on the volunteering sector, by affecting service provision, workforce capacity, and long-term financial viability of volunteering support services and volunteer-involving organisations.”
Earlier on Thursday, Catholic groups hit out at the plan to drug test welfare recipients.
Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA) and Catholic Health Australia, in a joint submission to the inquiry, said mandatory drug testing would only stigmatise and punish vulnerable Australians.
“Catholic social teaching calls on us to respect the dignity of all people and support them to lead a meaningful life and contribute to society,” their submission read.
“Compulsory drug testing does not respect the dignity of the person nor does it help build individual capabilities or strengthen families and communities. It is a heavy-handed and punitive approach to dealing with drug addiction for one group of people in the community.”
On Thursday, the CSSA chief executive, Jesuit priest Father Frank Brennan, said drug testing was no solution to the problems of Australia’s welfare system. Brennan said the levels of payments such as Newstart were grossly inadequate, particularly for single low-income Australians.
“They are being paid an allowance which is not adequate for basic survival, and their prospects for employment are almost zilch,” Brennan said. “But guess what, we’ve got something in mind for you, and it’s going to be drug testing.”
