Office Appointment. Source: Pexels
The decision by Workforce Australia to temporarily suspend mutual obligation will not benefit all welfare participants.
The brief suspension of the mutual obligations should have come as a much needed rest for all welfare participants, however, due to the policies arbitrary nature, not everyone will be a beneficiary.
The Australian Unemployed Workers Union released a statement, pointing out how “absurd” the parameters of the policy are.
“If welfare recipients are due to report on the 2nd of January next year, they receive a one month suspension to their mutual obligations deadline. However, if they are due to report on the 3rd of January, they get no break, and all their obligations are due that day, directly after the holiday and new year period,” they said.
“What’s incredibly interesting is the Department’s stated reason for why this discrepancy exists. Because providers aren’t open for the 2 week Christmas period, the Department says this could create issues for participants who miss deadlines, as they might not be able to re-engage with the provider who just cut off their payments.
“The Department then reasons that, for participants whose obligation due dates fall outside of this shutdown period, their ability to meet requirements won’t be affected in this way – and thus, they don’t require a mutual obligations suspension.”
Greens Senator for Victoria Janet Rice says people on income support should receive a break over the holidays.
“If employment service providers get a break over the holiday period, so should people on income support,” she said.
Regarding her thoughts on mutual obligations, Rice says “abolish mutual obligations now.”
This is not the first time Workforce Australia has faced criticism.
When the new points-based changes were announced a spokesperson from the Antipoverty Centre, Kristin O’Connell said the new system had “no transparency” and other issues.
“The points are very unfair in that they don’t value people’s time,” Ms O’Connell said.
