Clinton style welfare ' reform'
Liberal backbencher Judi Moylan has launched a stinging attack on the Federal Government's welfare-to-work legislation in Parliament.
The new measures, designed to encourage more welfare recipients into employment, are being debated in the House of Representatives.
Ms Moylan says the package offers no real incentives to get people into work and cuts in income support will only drive some of the most vulnerable groups in the community deeper into poverty.
"We have lost, in my view, a golden opportunity to really reform welfare in a meaningful way and to put into place a package of measures that would strongly support - not just the incentives for employers - but incentives, true incentives, real incentives for employees," she said.
The Federal Opposition's employment spokeswoman, Penny Wong, has welcomed Ms Moylan's comments.
"So what we have today is even the Government's own members saying what Labor has been saying, saying what the churches have been saying, saying what the community have been saying," she said.
"That dumping people onto the dole doesn't help them move from welfare to work."
Homelessness on the rise
A new report says the number of people classified as homeless in Australia is considerably higher than previous estimates.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (IHW) report says the number of people considered to be homeless by the Australian Bureau of Statistics was just under 100,000 people.
But the Institute says that would increase to almost 123,000 if some caravan park residents were classified under the definition of homeless, in the same way as boarding house residents.
The Institute's Justin Griffin says homeless people are not just people who are sleeping rough.
He says many are in caravan parks because they cannot afford any other accommodation.
"What we find is a lot of people are going, for example, to friends and family first, they're going to boarding houses first before in fact their crisis gets worse and they end up on the streets," he said.
The Institute says the reasons people are homeless are diverse, therefore support services must be as well.
Minister for Family and Community Services Kay Patterson says the Government is making an effort to address the problems faced by people without a home.
The Institute says more than 50 per cent of homeless people who seek immediate accommodation through the Government's Supported Accommodation Assistance Program are being turned away.
Senator Patterson says there is an increased commitment to the program from state and federal governments.
"We've seen a $350 million increase in the next agreement and also a better approach to supported accommodation where we actually make sure people are better prepared to leave emergency accommodation than they have been in the past," she said.
"That's very important because 25 per cent of people are returning to crisis accommodation, we need to reduce that."
Vulnerable
The Institute report also shows most Australian children are doing well from a welfare perspective but a small proportion are in a more vulnerable position and in greater need of support.
It says seven out of 10 children live with both natural parents and the most common arrangement is for both parents to be employed.
About two in 10 live in a lone parent family and one in 10 live in step or blended families.
The Institute's Cynthia Kim says there is a small amount of children in a more precarious position.
"We're also seeing overall, 16 per cent of children under 15 are living in families without an employed parent and overall 22 per cent of children of children under 15 are living in families with a very low income," she said.
The report shows in 2002, about 1.5 million children aged under 12 years used some type of child care, including preschool.
The new measures, designed to encourage more welfare recipients into employment, are being debated in the House of Representatives.
Ms Moylan says the package offers no real incentives to get people into work and cuts in income support will only drive some of the most vulnerable groups in the community deeper into poverty.
"We have lost, in my view, a golden opportunity to really reform welfare in a meaningful way and to put into place a package of measures that would strongly support - not just the incentives for employers - but incentives, true incentives, real incentives for employees," she said.
The Federal Opposition's employment spokeswoman, Penny Wong, has welcomed Ms Moylan's comments.
"So what we have today is even the Government's own members saying what Labor has been saying, saying what the churches have been saying, saying what the community have been saying," she said.
"That dumping people onto the dole doesn't help them move from welfare to work."
Homelessness on the rise
A new report says the number of people classified as homeless in Australia is considerably higher than previous estimates.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (IHW) report says the number of people considered to be homeless by the Australian Bureau of Statistics was just under 100,000 people.
But the Institute says that would increase to almost 123,000 if some caravan park residents were classified under the definition of homeless, in the same way as boarding house residents.
The Institute's Justin Griffin says homeless people are not just people who are sleeping rough.
He says many are in caravan parks because they cannot afford any other accommodation.
"What we find is a lot of people are going, for example, to friends and family first, they're going to boarding houses first before in fact their crisis gets worse and they end up on the streets," he said.
The Institute says the reasons people are homeless are diverse, therefore support services must be as well.
Minister for Family and Community Services Kay Patterson says the Government is making an effort to address the problems faced by people without a home.
The Institute says more than 50 per cent of homeless people who seek immediate accommodation through the Government's Supported Accommodation Assistance Program are being turned away.
Senator Patterson says there is an increased commitment to the program from state and federal governments.
"We've seen a $350 million increase in the next agreement and also a better approach to supported accommodation where we actually make sure people are better prepared to leave emergency accommodation than they have been in the past," she said.
"That's very important because 25 per cent of people are returning to crisis accommodation, we need to reduce that."
Vulnerable
The Institute report also shows most Australian children are doing well from a welfare perspective but a small proportion are in a more vulnerable position and in greater need of support.
It says seven out of 10 children live with both natural parents and the most common arrangement is for both parents to be employed.
About two in 10 live in a lone parent family and one in 10 live in step or blended families.
The Institute's Cynthia Kim says there is a small amount of children in a more precarious position.
"We're also seeing overall, 16 per cent of children under 15 are living in families without an employed parent and overall 22 per cent of children of children under 15 are living in families with a very low income," she said.
The report shows in 2002, about 1.5 million children aged under 12 years used some type of child care, including preschool.
posted by professor rat at 12:27 AM
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