Information about the inquiry
The bill builds on the Welfare to Work measures
which commenced on 1 July 2006, making amendments to the Disability
Services Act 1986, Social Security Act 1991 and the Social Security
(Administration) Act 1999.
The amendments to the Disability Services
Act 1986 would remove the requirement for the provision of
individual rehabilitation programs to be approved under that Act and would
support the move to a contestable vocational rehabilitation services
market from 1 July 2007.
The bill also amends the social security law
and:
- makes technical amendments to the
pensioner education supplement and mobility allowance debt calculation
provisions;
- reflects changes in terminology
replacing the term ‘pension period ’ with ‘instalment period’ and removing
references to the redundant payment of rehabilitation allowance in the New
Enterprise Incentive Scheme provisions;
- makes changes to the income test
arrangements where a CDEP Scheme payment is payable to (i) reflect the new
higher rates payable from 1 July 2006 to certain newstart allowance and
youth allowance recipients, and (ii) clarify the way in which income is
calculated for some members of a couple;
- allows for financial case
management debts to be deducted from social security payments; and
- puts beyond doubt the intended
treatment of indexation decisions.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to the Parliament House TTY number (02) 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. These tools are available at: http://access.adobe.com/. If you require any special arrangements in order to enable you to participate in a committee inquiry, please contact the committee secretary.
Submissions are due by 22 January 2007.
For further information, contact:
Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia