DISSENTING REPORT BY THE AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS
The present Government introduced a two year waiting period for newly
arrived migrants for a range of social security benefits which commenced
on 4 March 1997. From this date, newly arrived migrants who are not part
of the humanitarian or refugee categories have been ineligible for social
security payments such as Newstart, Sickness Allowance and the Special
Benefit until they have been in Australia for 104 weeks.
The Australian Democrats have opposed the introduction of the two year
waiting period for all social security benefits from the outset. To us,
such a measure is divisive, discriminatory and completely counter productive.
It is pointless encouraging migrants - often highly qualified people -
to come to Australia, only to deny them access to the most basic income
safety net which other Australians take for granted. While we acknowledge
that rights and responsibilities must go hand in hand for all those who
choose to settle in Australia, we do not agree with the Government's current
approach which demands responsibility while simultaneously denying basic
rights which are accessible to other Australians.
Recent moves by the Democrats to have the Special Benefit removed from
this two year waiting period have been in response to a number of calls
from community and charity groups which have found themselves struggling
to assist newly arrived migrants who are unable to meet their most basic
life requirements.
After hearing many stories of newly arrived migrants suffering from malnutrition,
unable to access safe or suitable accommodation and unable to afford to
care for their children, the Democrats moved an amendment to have the
Special Benefit exempted from the two year waiting period during the Senate's
recent consideration of the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Youth
Allowance) Bill 1997.
Special Benefit
Special Benefit has always been considered to be the final safety net
of Australia's social security system. This benefit has traditionally
been available to any person who is in desperate need of income support
but not eligible for any other form of social security benefit.
Since last March, apart from some exemptions such as family members of
refugees and citizens, legislation has dictated that Special Benefit can
only be paid to a migrant within two years of arrival if they can prove
they have `suffered a substantial change of circumstances beyond their
control' [1].
According to the Welfare Rights Centre, to which many newly arrived residents
in desperation have turned for assistance, this has meant that people
who claim Special Benefit because the funds they have brought with them
to Australia run out are being turned away [2],
even if they have no alternative means of support. This leaves these people
suffering extreme hardship, with no relief until they secure employment
and no alternative but to pursue appeals through the Administrative Appeals
Tribunal (AAT).
United Nations Conventions
Witnesses to the Committee suggested that the Government's decision to
deny newly arrived migrants Special Benefit even when they do not have
any means of support whatsoever may contravene several United Nations
conventions to which Australia is a signatory[4].
The first of these is the Universal Declaration on Human Rights article
25 which states that:
everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health
and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including, food, clothing,
housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right
to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood,
old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control
[5].
Contrary to the lofty aims of this and other conventions which Australia
has pledged to uphold, many newly arrived migrants and their families
in Australia are now being forced to live in destitution. Many are unable
to buy sufficient food to eat, unable to access safe or suitable accommodation
and unable to feed their children a nutritious diet [6].
Some newly arrived residents have been left with no other option but
to ask other people to care for their children simply because they cannot
afford to care for them themselves. Still others have developed malnutrition
and associated health problems because of their inability to access adequate
nourishment.
As Ms Mullins told the committee, the case of Singh and Kaur was notable
because:
There were two children and one of those children had a broken arm and
chickenpox. That child was repeatedly admitted to hospital, not because
of the broken arm and chickenpox, but because the doctors were concerned
that because this child was so undernourished the bones would not mend
[7].
Article 11 of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights also
states that parties to it `recognise the right of everyone to an adequate
standard of living for himself and his family including adequate food,
clothing and housing' [8].
Clearly, in this respect the Government's policy is failing many newly
arrived migrants.
Information
Several witnesses told the Committee that many newly arrived migrants
had been unaware of their inability to claim social security benefits
until they had been in Australia for two years. A survey undertaken by
the Ethnic Communities Council of NSW showed that of 95 people who were
surveyed, 59.3 per cent had no idea they would be subject to a 2 year
waiting period until after they arrived [9].
While the Democrats acknowledge the Department's efforts in trying to
inform potential migrants and their sponsors in Australia of the two year
waiting provision, it is clear from evidence given to this Committee that
not all of this information was received or properly understood by potential
migrants.
In addition, many migrants who now find themselves destitute and unable
to access basic income support came to Australia under the skilled migrant
program after being given the impression in their country of origin that
their skills (skills such as engineering, medicine, business) would be
in great demand here. Many tell of having been given the impression that
they would have little trouble getting a job once in Australia.
Representatives from the Department of Immigration and Multicultural
affairs told the committee that people applying to migrate are given very
little real information in relation to what they can expect when they
arrive in Australia. In particular, they are given little indication of
the kind of resources they may require to keep them going until they are
able to access employment. As Mr Sullivan put it:
If people are in several parts of the world and being advised in a prospective
piece of information that they should contact Centrelink about the possibility
of special benefit, firstly, a lot of those people would never know what
special benefit, let alone a welfare system, was about or, secondly what
an organisation called Centrelink was [10].
If people want to get into the detail, particularly of special benefit
entitlement – what that means – or other things, our officers
are not equipped and, not being equipped we would not ever encourage them
to attempt to provide information that they are not equipped to provide.
We would refer that person and give them addresses and telephone numbers
for Social Security in Australia [11].
The Democrats firmly believe that more effort needs to be put into helping
potential migrants to understand what they will need in terms of resources,
and that they need to be given a much more realistic idea about the length
of time it may take for them to get a job. Encouraging migrants to come
to Australia without being fully informed of the difficulties they may
face when they arrive, particularly when they will be ineligible for any
kind of income support, is simply not acceptable.
The Drain on Charities
Many charities report that, because of the additional demands being placed
on their services by newly arrived residents unable to access social security
benefits, they are finding it difficult to stretch their resources wide
enough to assist all the other people needing their help [12].
These organisations, with a nationwide budget of just $23 million per
year [13], are not set up to provide long-term
material support. Rather, they are set up to provide emergency relief,
not permanent income support [14].
The Democrats urge the Government to urgently address the tremendous
drain the two year waiting period for newly arrived migrants is placing
on charities. If, in the worst case scenario, it refuses to accept the
need to exempt Special Benefit for newly arrived migrants from the two
year wait, charities must be compensated through increased funding. Funding
must be increased to such a level as to allow them to adequately assist
destitute migrants and their families.
As the Department of Health & Family Services indicated, Emergency
Relief Program funding is meant “to assist people in financial crisis
to overcome their immediate crisis situation and desirably to prevent
ongoing hardship, through the provision of short-term emergency financial
assistance. (Dept's emphasis) [15]
Evidence presented to the Committee clearly shows that charity agencies
are having an extra burden placed upon them as a result of the inability
of a number of migrants to access Special Benefits. St Vincent de Paul
estimated that they are currently supporting over a hundred people throughout
Australia who are newly arrived residents without access to Special Benefits.
[16]
Employment
In being ineligible for social security benefits as a result of the two
year waiting period, many migrants are also ineligible for a whole range
of other services which would assist them to get a job and secure a means
of supporting themselves and their families.
Under the Government's recent reforms to employment services, the only
people who are able to access employment assistance – apart from
being able to access a database at Centrelink [17]
– are those who are receiving a social security benefit. This means
that all those newly arrived residents who are subject to a two year waiting
period will not have access to job matching services, training programs
or any other form of intensive employment assistance.
Many migrants come to Australia under the skilled migrant program. Many
are highly qualified. Denying highly qualified migrants access to job
search assistance is clearly very counter productive as it also denies
these people access to the very assistance which would help them to find
work and thus a means of supporting themselves.
Whilst information provided to the Committee by DEETYA outlined some
of the job search support services which are available to all job seekers,
including migrants not in receipt of Social Security benefits, it is clear
that such migrants have access to fewer services to assist them with finding
employment than do other Australians. The Democrats believe such a situation
is inequitable and socially and economically counterproductive.
Conclusion
The Democrats acknowledge that the legislative exemption which enables
Special Benefit to be paid to recently arrived migrants if they have suffered
a substantial change in circumstances beyond their control is ensuring
that some people in dire need are able to access minimum income support.
However, it must equally be acknowledged that this exemption is so restrictive
that many recently arrived migrants - people who have been accepted as
legitimate, permanent residents of Australia - are in dire need and are
not able to access any adequate form of income support.
It is clear that some migrant families are suffering extreme poverty
and destitution as a result of this measure. This has not been denied
by the Government, its Departments or the majority report of this Committee.
In the Democrats' view, to refuse to act to address the real human suffering
that is clearly occurring now in Australia is unacceptable. Clearly, the
Social Security Act as it now stands is too restrictive and is leaving
some newly arrived residents in circumstances of extreme hardship.
Recommendations
- Given the overwhelming and uncontested evidence that many migrant
families are experiencing great hardship as a result of being unable
to access any form of income support, the Democrats believe the Social
Security Act 1991 should be amended to exempt newly arrived residents
from the two year waiting period for Special Benefit.
- There has clearly been an extra burden placed on charities and relief
agencies, as well as support agencies such as The Welfare Rights Centre
and migrant service agencies, as a result of the inability of many hundreds
of migrant families to access Special Benefit. The Democrats believe
that, if the government refuses to accept the above recommendation,
it should examine whether extra assistance is required to these agencies
to enable them to adequately deal with the extra burden which has been
generated by the two year waiting period.
Senator Andrew Bartlett
Australian Democrat Senator for Queensland
2 April, 1998
Footnotes
[1] Ms Lisa Paul, Department of Social Security,
Transcript of Evidence, p.2.
[2] Welfare Rights Submission, p.1.
[4] Ms Chan, Transcript of Evidence, p.30.
[5] Ms Chan, Transcript of Evidence, p.30.
[6] Welfare Rights Submission, p.14 – 18.
[7] Ms Mullins, Transcript of Evidence, p.26.
[8] Ms Chan, Transcript of Evidence, p. 30.
[9]Ms Chan, Transcript of Evidence, p. 31.
[10] Mr Sullivan, Transcript of Evidence, p.5.
[11] Mr Sullivan, Transcript of Evidence, p.
9.
[12] Welfare Rights, Submission, p.10.
[13] Ms Paul, Transcript of Evidence, p.5.
[14] Welfare Rights Submission, p.10.
[15] Written answer to Question on Notice provided
to the Committee by the Dept of Health & Family Services, 1 April,
1998.
[16] Society of St Vincent de Paul, submission,
p1.
[17] Mr Musovski, Transcript of Evidence, p.15.