Jobseekers could have their rights weakened and some will lose hundreds of dollars in payments under a government plan to update mutual obligation rules, welfare groups have warned.
The Morrison government is seeking the Senate’s support for a bill it says “streamlines” social security law and is aimed at reducing the “administrative burden” for welfare recipients.
But a key change is that people who are required to do their job search through the government’s online employment services system will only receive their first welfare payment after they sign a job plan.
The Department of Employment has told a Senate inquiry examining the bill that this change will affect about 144,000 jobseekers each year, with each to lose $450 in payments on average.
That’s because government data shows it takes 10 days on average for jobseekers to sign up to a plan.
Australian Council of Service Service principal adviser Peter Davidson said the change represented a “budget cut” that would “put people under severe pressure” to agree to a job search plan.
The government argues the change brings online jobseekers in line with those in the jobactive program, but Acoss said people in the latter scheme are paid when they attend a meeting with a provider, not when they sign their job plan.
The Antipoverty Centre, a research group run by social security recipients, also claimed the change was a “sham”.
“Backdating payments to when a job plan is signed means people who have limited access to technology, are uncertain about requirements, have questions, or want to adjust their job plan will effectively receive a financial penalty,” it said in an inquiry submission.
Acoss also warned the legislation appears to “remove or water down protections from unreasonable requirements” for jobseekers such as single parents, people with disability, and mature aged workers.
It argues the bill means vulnerable jobseekers might not have access to reduced job search requirements because job plans would be increasingly automated, a claim the government denies.
Melissa Ryan, a Department of Education, Skills and Employment first assistant secretary, told an inquiry hearing last Friday the bill did not “enable automated decision-making”.
“The bill ensures that jobseekers will always be given the option of negotiating a job plan with a person,” she said.
“A range of safeguards will also be in place to ensure that jobseekers’ circumstances are taken into account and they are receiving the right support.”
Doubts over the practical impact of what experts say is a complicated piece of legislation have also prompted calls for the bill to be delayed.
The government says the changes are needed to establish the new employment services model, which will see more jobseekers referred to online services, rather than a face-to-face job agency.
It will eliminate “130 pages of superfluous social security legislation”, much of which was legislated “several decades ago”.
But the National Employment Services Association, which represents job agencies, suggested the government had provided “grossly insufficient time to adequately analyse all changes”.
Jobs Australia, which represents non-profit job agencies, also called for the bill to be delayed by at least two months.
The ACTU, Anglicare, the Council of Single Mothers and their Children, Economic Justice Australia and People With Disability Australia are among the other groups that have also raised concerns about the changes.
The bill is expected to save $191.6m over four years by reducing jobseekers’ first payments, though Ryan said last week the figure could be lower if the change had the “desired behavioural effect”.
“The intent of the measure is for jobseekers to connect quickly, and in the case of online jobseekers, who are the most job-ready, the behaviour that we want to see is them engaging with online digital services,” she said.
If the legislation passes the Senate, the changes would come into effect in July next year.
The Senate inquiry’s report is due to be tabled on Friday.
