Social security legislation amendment (debit card trial) Bill 2015 provisions

摘要

OverviewIn 2013 the then Prime Minister, the Hon Tony Abbott MP, asked Mr Andrew Forrest to lead a review of Indigenous training and employment programs (The Forrest Review). The review made a number of recommendations aimed at ending the disparity in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, including the introduction of a cashless welfare system known as the Healthy Welfare Card.The Bill seeks to enable a trial of cashless welfare arrangements in response to the Forrest Reviewu27s recommendations. The Explanatory Memorandum (EM) notes that the purpose of the trial is to test whether cashless welfare arrangements can reduce the habitual abuse and associated harm resulting from alcohol, gambling and illegal drugs. The trial will also test whether cashless welfare arrangements are more effective when community bodies are involved.Purpose and key provisions of the Bill The Bill proposes amendments to social security legislation to enable a trial of cashless welfare arrangements during the period 1 February 2016 to 30 June 2018.This schedule proposes to split welfare payments into restricted and unrestricted portions with the payment of the restricted portion to a bank account to be subject to certain restrictions on access and use.Under the proposed measure, 80 per cent of payments received by trial participants receiving a working age welfare payment would be placed in the restricted bank account. The remaining 20 per cent of payments would be available for use at the trial participantu27s discretion. The proportion of payments made to the restricted bank account may be varied by legislative instrument.In trial locations, payments made to the restricted bank account would be accessed by a debit card. The debit card would not allow the purchase of alcohol and gambling products or cash withdrawals.Recommendations 1. The committee recommends that the Minister for Social Services include safety net provisions in the proposed legislative instrument to ensure that vulnerable people impacted by the trial are able to be exited from the trial, where appropriate, to ensure they are not further disadvantaged.2. The committee recommends that the Bill be passed.