Business council backs rise for jobless

    by: Patricia Karvelas
    From: The Australian
    June 13, 2013


THE nation's peak business body has called for an increase in the Newstart Allowance, arguing the payment's current rate "falls below societal norms of adequacy" but says the government should look instead at a crackdown on the disability support pension to create more incentives for those on welfare to work.

In a Senate submission to the committee assessing measures announced in last month's budget that would allow unemployed people to keep more welfare income when they worked more hours, the Business Council of Australia says a much bigger review of welfare is necessary.

The BCA argues that while it supports the government's changes to the system, they "constitute a very minor step towards addressing the issues raised in the committee's inquiry into the adequacy of the allowance payment system".

An increase in Newstart "must be considered as part of a comprehensive review of Australia's tax and transfer system, and introduced when fiscal circumstances permit", the submission says.


"We believe the current rate of allowances falls below societal norms of adequacy. Extremely low rates of payment are often promoted as the best form of incentive to find work. The BCA believes that a more comprehensive approach is required.

"The income support system as a whole, and its suitability for contemporary labour market and social norms, should be considered as part of an independent review of the size, scope and efficiency of government."

The BCA argues a better set of incentives for welfare recipients to work would include tighter controls on the Disability Support Pension.

The BCA says the changes in the bill constitute a minor step towards mitigating the ever-widening disparity between pensions and allowances, which gives rise to a range of perverse incentives and stark gaps, such as that experienced by sole parents once their youngest child turns eight, who stop being eligible for the higher Parenting Payment Single.

"We accept the changes that place sole parents on a similar footing to unemployed people once the youngest child turns eight years of age," the submission says.

"However, the BCA balances this view against a recognition that measures to ease the transition of a sole parent into work or study that will later assist them into work are constructive ways of encouraging self-support."

... wrote on Jun 13^th, 2013 at 8:23am:



Well, I am, very much so, and you may indeed be right.

But it doesn't change the fact that a raise of at least $50/week is essential and long-overdue.