Bills Digest no. 43 2009–10
Social Security Amendment (National Green Jobs Corps Supplement) Bill 2009
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine
the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage history
Purpose
Background
Financial implications
Main provisions
Concluding comments
Contact officer & copyright details
Passage history
Date introduced: 17 September 2009
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Employment and Workplace Relations
Commencement: Upon Royal Assent
Links: The relevant links to the Bill, Explanatory Memorandum
and second reading speech can be accessed via BillsNet, which is at http://www.aph.gov.au/bills/. When Bills have been passed they can
be found at ComLaw, which is at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/.
The purpose
of this Bill is to amend the Social Security Act 1991 to enable the
temporary payment of a $41.60 supplement per fortnight to participants in the
National Green Jobs Corps program who are in receipt of Youth Allowance
(other), Newstart Allowance or the Parenting Payment. The supplement is to be
payable to those people who participate in the National Green Jobs Corps
between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2011.
In his opening address to the ALP National Conference on 30
July 2009, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced that the Federal Government
would spend $94 million over three years to create 50 000 new green jobs and
training places.[1] The green jobs and training package is comprised of 30 000 apprenticeships to
equip young people with practical job-ready green skills; 10 000 places in the
National Green Jobs Corps; 6000 new local jobs that focus on environmental
sustainability in communities struggling as a result of the financial crisis;
and, 4000 training places for long-term and disadvantaged unemployed people in
ceiling insulation installation.[2] The package is intended to serve two main purposes: firstly, it is to help
combat youth unemployment in a time of economic downturn (in which young
unemployed people are typically the worst hit) and, secondly, it is to assist
in tackling environmental problems and the impacts of climate change.[3]
The National Green Jobs Corps program is described as a 26
week environmental work experience and training program that is targeted at
low-skilled (that is people who have been unemployed for more than 12 months, and
especially those who have not completed Year 12) 17 to 24 year olds.[4] Participants are to undertake work experience and skills development on
environmental and heritage projects, with 130 hours of this training leading to
a nationally-recognised qualification (such as a Certificate I or a Certificate
II qualification in horticulture or conservation and land management).[5] Participation in the program will also enable young unemployed people to meet
their participation obligations for the receipt of Youth Allowance (other),
Newstart Allowance or Parenting Payment income support.
The program itself is not new: a Green Corps program has
been operating continuously in Australia from 1997 to 30 June 2009. What is new
is that participants in the updated and re-named program are to be provided (at
least temporarily) with a supplement to their income support payments—both as
an incentive to participate in the program and to assist in this participation.
This amounts to an extension of the existing Training Supplement paid to
eligible Newstart Allowance and Parenting Payment Single recipients who
commence approved courses between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2011 to National
Green Jobs Corps program participants.[6]
To date, there has been very little specific commentary on
the Bill itself, or on the National Green Jobs Corps program. Much of the relevant
discussion has focused instead on the general announcement that the Government
would create 50 000 new green jobs, traineeships and apprenticeships. In
particular, commentary has centred on the question of just how many new jobs—as
opposed to training and work experience places—would actually be created as a
part of the initiative. And it is in relation to the National Green Jobs Corps
program that this question has been asked most pointedly.
Almost immediately following the Prime Minister’s
announcement, Senator Mark Arbib, the newly-appointed Minister for Employment
Participation, was asked whether the 10 000 National Green Jobs Corps places
were jobs or training places. In response, Senator Arbib is reported to have said,
‘it’s a fine line. Work experience, though, is a job. These people will be
working, day in, day out, on these green projects. They will be getting paid to
do that work. It is a job.’[7] Senator Arbib was at the time unable to clarify whether or not participants
would continue to be paid income support whilst on the program, and admitted
that he was not clear on the details of the program.
In response to Senator Arbib’s comments, the Shadow Minister
for Employment Participation, Training and Sport Dr Andrew Southcott MP, argued
that the National Green Jobs Corps places are work experience and not jobs. Dr Southcott
is reported as having stated, ‘they are not jobs, and it is incredibly
disturbing that the Minister for Employment Participation thinks they are.’[8]
Following similar lines, Dr Southcott was critical of the Prime
Minister’s announcement as a whole. Dr Southcott reportedly described the
announcement as ‘seriously misleading’ on the grounds that ‘not only are there
only 6000 actual jobs, opposed to 44 000 training or work experience
placements, but these jobs are from the Jobs Fund that has been announced on
several occasions.’[9] This last charge—that the announcement was largely an exercise in ‘recycling of
previously announced initiatives’—is one that Southcott specifically levelled
at the National Green Jobs Corps:
Green Corps was an initiative of the former Coalition
Government. Labor has added in the word ‘Jobs’ to the name, yet has failed to
define a pathway between this training and an actual, paid job.[10]
It is indeed the case that the Green Corps was a Coalition
Government initiative. The Green Corps program was announced in the federal
budget on 20 August 1996, and commenced in 1997. Despite the change in name,
the program remains essentially the same. However, there are two main
differences between the Green Corps and National Green Jobs Corps programs. The
first is that where the program was previously for young people aged between 17
and 20 years, it has now been expanded to include 17 to 25 year olds. The
second difference is the payment of the $41.60 training supplement to program
participants in addition to Youth Allowance (other), Newstart Allowance or
Parenting Payment, rather than a single training allowance payment.
While it may be argued that the National Green Jobs Corps is
essentially a rebadged Coalition Government initiative, it has equally been
argued that the Coalition Government’s Green Corp was itself, to all intents
and purposes, a rebadged Labor initiative.
In 1992 the Keating Government established the Landcare and
Environment Action Programme, known as LEAP. This program, which was
administered by the then Department of Employment, Education and Training
(DEET) sought primarily to improve the long-term employment prospects of young
people aged between 15 and 20 years through formal training and practical
experience. The program also aimed to broaden participants’ practical know-how
and to equip them with new skills specifically for projects promoting landcare,
environment, cultural heritage and conservation activities.[11]
The course consisted of 26 weeks of formal and on-the-job
training, which was delivered by service providers contracted by DEET through a
public tendering process. Service providers made available practical experience
placements within projects that were focused on landcare, cultural heritage or
conservation. Participants were paid a taxable training allowance that varied
according to their age. The LEAP program was open to all young people aged 15
to 20 years who were registered with the Commonwealth Employment Service (CES),
but special priority was given to long term unemployed and disadvantaged job
seekers.[12]
The LEAP program ended when the Keating Government lost
office in 1996 and, as noted above, the new Howard Government introduced the
Green Corps program soon after.
When asked in an interview on 23 August 1996 what he thought
of the new Green Corps program, the then leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley,
reportedly described it as the rebadged LEAP program. Beazley went on to accuse
the Howard Government of rebadging the program at about a tenth of the
expenditure that was invested by the former Labor Government.[13]
In response to claims that the Green Corps program was
basically LEAP rebadged, on 12 May 1998, Tony Abbott, the then Parliamentary
Secretary to the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs,
insisted that the
Green Corps is different from previous environmental jobs
programmes (such as LEAP) because it comprises volunteers only and is managed,
on the Government’s behalf, by a respected, community-based environmental
organisation, the Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers. Green Corps is
not confined to unemployed young people and involves a full-time commitment to
the environment with payment at the rate of the national training wage.[14]
While there were certainly differences between the two
programs, arguably, the point that the Green Corps program was comprised of
volunteers only and not confined to unemployed young people was not a significant
distinction. In reality, most Green Corps participants would have been
unemployed prior to commencing the program.[15] These participants are likely to have been attracted to the program, in part,
because they would not have had to satisfy mutual obligations requirements
while receiving a training allowance.
Some commentators, including Sharan Burrow of the Australian
Council of Trade Unions, have welcomed the Government’s green jobs plan as
providing support for young Australians hit hard by the economic slowdown.[16] Others, such as Heather Ridout of the Australian Industry Group, have argued
that the plan will help to tackle the deficit in Australia’s national green
skills capability.[17] Tony Mohr of the Australian Conservation Foundation has similarly approved of
the focus on green jobs.[18] However, in the case of the National Green Jobs Corps initiative, it is by no
means clear that the work experience and training provided will result in
participants gaining employment in (green) jobs.
Indeed, some have questioned just what the designation
‘green jobs’ actually means.[19] For example, Leon Gettler has used the UN environment program’s definition of
green jobs to illustrate how broad the category is, and to question just how
many supposedly green jobs actually contribute to environmental sustainability
as well as to the economy.[20] While Gettler does not doubt that the green economy will create industries,
jobs and investment opportunities, he does query how many real green
jobs are actually out there. And, in the absence of guaranteed real green jobs,
Gettler poses the question: Is the Green Jobs Corps a Work for the Dole scheme
in disguise?[21]
Some environmental and training groups that are likely to
take part in the National Green Jobs Corps program have claimed that the
program’s proposed funding structure creates a disincentive for agencies to
help program participants to find paid employment. Under the draft program
rules, participating agencies will receive payments at the commencement,
half-way and completion points of a project, based on the number of
participants involved in the project. Thus, should participants leave the project
to take up paid employment and not be replaced, training providers will lose
funding.[22]
It is worth noting that one commentator, at least, has
proposed means of getting around this problem. It is reported that Greening
Australia’s South Australian chief executive, Mark Anderson has suggested that ‘employment
agencies could creatively structure programs, including taking on a series of
teams of trainees, to avoid losing funding when participants find paid work,
and take on larger projects that will require more than 26 weeks to complete.’[23]
Despite the relatively small number of training places in
the program over two years, Jobs Australia chief executive, David Thompson has
indicated that it is by no means clear that the places would lead to jobs. Without
additional funding for places and jobs, Thompson is also reported as having
suggested that the scheme could become unviable.[24]
Some commentators have criticised the fortnightly training
supplement to be provided to National Green Jobs Corps program participants as
being insufficient. According to Environmental Training and Employment general
manager Greg Bird, the supplement, when combined with participants’ income
support payments, is less than the amount that participants received under the
previous Green Corps program.[25] Without a stronger financial incentive for young unemployed people, Job Futures
chief executive Lisa Fowkes has argued that it would be difficult to motivate
them to participate in the program. If the program is not to resemble Work for
the Dole, Fowkes maintains that participants’ efforts need to be properly
remunerated: ‘one of the marks of whether society values what you do is if you
are paid for your work’.[26]
The National Green Jobs Corps
program supplement amount is consistent with other like training supplements,
but double the Work for the Dole supplement of $20.80.
According to the Explanatory
Memorandum, the National Green Jobs Corps supplement will cost $3.4 million
over the period 2009 to 2012, with costs to Centrelink yet to be agreed.[27]
Amendments to the Social
Security Act 1991
Item 1 inserts a definition of the National Green
Jobs Corps program into subsection 23(1) and Item 2 inserts a definition
of the National Green Jobs Corps supplement into the same subsection.
Item 3 inserts a new paragraph, 23(4AA)(ab),
the effect of which is that for the purposes of determining whether the
National Green Jobs Corps supplement remains payable, a person will be taken to
receive income support for a given period after that payment or allowance
ceases as a result of an increase in the participant’s or their partner’s
income. This is consistent with the treatment of other supplements under the
Act.[28]
Item 4 inserts a new section, 503C,
which provides for a person at least 17 and under 25 years of age in receipt of
a parenting payment to receive the National Green Jobs Corps supplement on a
fortnightly basis, so long as they are participating in the program. However,
new paragraph 503C(3)(a) specifies that a person will not be paid the
supplement for a fortnight during which they are supposed to be participating
in the National Green Jobs Corps program as a part of their Parenting Payment
Employment Pathway Plan, but cease to participate in the program in
circumstances that amount to a failure to comply with the plan. New paragraph
503C(3)(b) provides that where a person qualifies for receipt of both the
National Green Jobs Corps supplement and another training supplement in a given
fortnight, only the training supplement will be paid.
Item 5 inserts a new subsection, 541(1C),
which provides that a person satisfies the Youth Allowance activity test for a
given period if they participate in the National Green Jobs Corps program throughout
that period.
Item 6 inserts a new section, 556B,
which provides for a person at least 17 years of age who is in receipt of Youth
Allowance (pursuant to section 540 of the Act) and not studying full-time to
receive the National Green Jobs Corps supplement on a fortnightly basis, so
long as they are participating in the program. The person is not to be paid the
supplement under this section if they are over the age of 21 years, and thus no
longer qualify for Youth Allowance. New subsection 556B(2) provides for
a person who is a participant in the National Green Jobs Corps program and in
receipt of Youth Allowance to receive the National Green Jobs Corps supplement
on a fortnightly basis, so long as they are participating in the program. New
subsection 556B(3) states that a person will not be paid the supplement for
a fortnight during which they are supposed to be participating in the National
Green Jobs Corps program as a part of their Youth Allowance Employment Pathway
Plan, but fail to participate in the program in circumstances that amount to a
failure to comply with the plan.
Item 7 inserts a new sub-section, 601(4D),
which provides that a person also satisfies the Newstart activity test for a
given period if they participate in the National Green Jobs Corps program throughout
that period.
Item 9 inserts a new section, 645,
which provides for a person under the age of 25 years and in receipt of
Newstart Allowance to receive the National Green Jobs Corps supplement on a
fortnightly basis, so long as they are participating in the program. The person
is not to be paid the supplement under this section if they have yet to reach
21 years of age, and thus do not qualify for Newstart Allowance. New paragraph
645(3)(a) provides that a person will not be paid the supplement for a
fortnight during which they are supposed to be participating in the National
Green Jobs Corps program as a part of their Newstart Allowance Employment
Pathway Plan, but fail to participate in the program in circumstances that
amount to a failure to comply with the plan. New paragraph 645(3)(b) provides that where a person qualifies for receipt of both the National Green
Jobs Corps supplement and another training supplement in a given fortnight,
only the training supplement will be paid.
Under items 10 and 11, where a person is
entitled to the National Green Jobs Corps supplement and a language, literacy
and numeracy or CDEP scheme participant supplement, respectively, in the same
fortnight, only the National Green Jobs Corps supplement is payable.
Items 12 and 13 provide
that where a person receives a National Green Jobs Corps supplement to which
they are not entitled, this amount becomes a debt that must be paid to the
Commonwealth.
The Bill will provide, over a two year period, regular additional
financial support to National Green Jobs Corps program participants. It is not
clear, however, that the supplement will offer sufficient incentive to entice
many would-be participants into the program. And, in the absence of sufficient
numbers of program participants, concerns have been expressed that the program
may not be viable for participating employment and training agencies. Further,
this situation could be exacerbated by the program’s proposed funding formula,
which has been described by some as problematic, given that agencies stand to
lose funding where program participants find paid work. Questions have also
been raised as to the number of relevant green jobs that are available, and thus
whether or not the training and experience to be provided to those who do participate in the National Green Jobs Corps program will prove worthwhile in
terms of employment outcomes.
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Matthew Thomas
20 October
Bills Digest Service
Parliamentary Library
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