The Australian National Council on Drugs warned four years ago that there was “no evidence” that drug testing welfare recipients would have any positive effects, and found drug use was not, by itself, a significant barrier to employment.
The Department of Social Services faced questioning in Senate estimates on Wednesday over controversial plans to trial drug testing for about 5,000 welfare recipients.
The Coalition says the measure, announced in the budget, is designed to remove a barrier to welfare recipients gaining employment, but drug support workers say it will be ineffective and counterproductive.
The department said on Wednesday it had worked on the proposal for 12 months before the announcement, but had not consulted with external drug, alcohol, or medical experts before budget was released.
The department also confirmed that some welfare recipients would be forced to pay for their own drug tests, or bear the cost through their welfare benefits.
That would occur if they fail a first test and then request a second clarifying test, which they also fail. It would also occur if they fail the first test and a second mandatory follow-up test within 25 days.
The government refused to say how much each test would cost, saying it was yet to negotiate with the private firm that would conduct the tests.
“We’re not expecting it to be a significant burden,” departmental deputy secretary Cath Halbert said.
Greens senator Rachel Siewert asked the officials whether they had considered a 2013 position paper from the National Council of Drugs, a peak advisory group on drug policy that has since been defunded by government.
That paper warned against the drug testing of welfare recipients, saying it would not be effective.
“There is no evidence that drug testing welfare beneficiaries will have any positive effects for those individuals or for society, and some evidence indicating such a practice could have high social and economic costs,” the paper said. “In addition, there would be serious ethical and legal problems in implementing such a program in Australia.”
“Drug testing of welfare beneficiaries ought not be considered.”
The paper also warned there was “no clear evidence” that drug use by itself was a barrier to employment for a significant proportion of people, nor that it was a more significant barrier than other factors like transport, health or discrimination.
The department’s deputy secretary Serena Wilson was unable to say whether that position paper had been read and considered in the 12 months of planning before the trial’s announcement.
Wilson said the department had considered a “mixed bag” of evidence from overseas attempts at drug testing welfare recipients, but had not been able to find any comprehensive evaluation reports.
Liberal senator Scott Ryan said he could “not understand the outrage that comes from some people” over measures designed to help people using illicit drugs. He said the government was conducting a trial only, which was designed to gather evidence on whether such a policy would work in Australia.
“This is a trial, the government has repeatedly made clear this is a trial, through which evidence is being gathered,” Ryan said.
The department said it was expecting 425 welfare recipients to test positive in the first drug test. The mandatory follow-up test was likely to result in 120 positive tests, the government said.
The government is using the CSIRO Data61 unit to develop a “risk profile” to identify welfare recipients most likely to be using drugs. It has previously described the testing as random.
