2nd December 2022

NOVEMBER BUDGET ESTIMATES: NO CLEAR END IN SIGHT FOR COMPULSORY INCOME MANAGEMENT

Evidence provided by the Department of Social Services (DSS) and Services Australia during November’s 2022-23 budget estimates hearings has done little to dispel concerns about the operation of compulsory income management (CIM) in Australia. The Accountable Income Management Network (AIMN) maintains serious doubts about the federal government’s various assurances that it plans to bring CIM to an end, despite the recent repeal of the Cashless Debit Card (CDC). While this particular scheme is being rolled back, CIM continues in the Northern Territory, Cape York and Doomadgee regions, and in a range of other designated areas around the country. Answers provided by representatives from DSS and Services Australia during Social Services estimates have raised concerns about the extent to which social security recipients’ rights, autonomy and wellbeing are being taken into consideration at both the departmental and ministerial levels, especially in areas where CIM is ongoing.

In response to questioning from Greens Senator Janet Rice, DSS representatives reported that there has been a mass exodus of eligible participants from CIM under the CDC since this was enabled on 4 October 2022. Between the 4th of October and 4th of November, 73.3% of participants across the Ceduna, East Kimberley, Goldfields and Bundaberg and Hervey Bay regions have exited the CDC program, with only 55 former participants across all regions choosing to volunteer for the scheme.^[1] This is a welcome result and a clear indictment of the restrictive nature and arbitrary imposition of CIM in these areas. However, it is an injustice that the opportunity to opt out has not been afforded to people subject to the CDC under similarly arbitrary rules in the Northern Territory.

We also appreciate Senator Rice’s identification of the extreme difficulties faced by BasicsCard participants when attempting to exit CIM, particularly in the Northern Territory. The fact that the DSS reported it has no plans to change BasicsCard exit procedures in the Northern Territory and other areas around the country shows that government is content to continue imposing this extreme form of welfare conditionality on a subset of social security recipients, the majority of whom are Indigenous.^[2] Though Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth has claimed that there will be extensive consultation to determine the future of income management in these areas,^[3] further revelations from estimates hearings have thrown this claim into doubt.

Despite the fact that consultations are intended to take place over the next six months, DSS representatives provided very little detail on how these consultations would be conducted. There was a concerning lack of clarity around funding allocations for consultations,^[4] the process of identifying key stakeholders and whether this would include people subject to CIM, and how the department plans to ensure maximal representation of remote Indigenous communities.^[5] Additionally, the suggestion that “subject to ministerial views, there may be an online public process” as an additional option for persons to contribute to consultations indicates a total lack of familiarity with infrastructural barriers, levels of technological access and proficiency and likelihood of this form of engagement in such communities.^[6] While DSS plans to seek guidance from several key Aboriginal community-controlled organisations in the Northern Territory on the consultation process, many unanswered questions remain about how these consultations will differ from those used to authorise the initial roll-out of the CDC.^[7]

In addition to this, funding has been allocated for a variety of support services in CDC sites where participants have been permitted to exit CIM, both to extend current servicing for a year and to address additional service gaps. However, DSS representatives admitted that this funding does not cover the provision of social security legal support^[8], despite the importance of this form of local assistance for individuals navigating the social security system and challenging arbitrary and punitive decisions at the departmental and ministerial levels, and at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Finally, as identified in the network’s response to the October budget, there continues to be a worrying lack of transparency about the development of an “enhanced” income management card. There has been no public reporting on the costs associated with this “enhanced” card. While Services Australia representatives have cited commercial-in-confidence, the costs of consultation about the future of income management have been confusingly linked to this procurement process, making the latter also unavailable for publication.^[9] In addition to this, the government’s plans to complete their procurement of an authorised deposit-taking institution to provide banking services within the first quarter of 2023, combined with a lack of clarity about whether procurement will occur via open or limited tender, leaves the door open for poverty profiteers such as Indue Ltd to remain a part of the equation.

As noted in our response to the October budget, the government’s choice to retain income management as a policy premise and to ignore calls from community sector advocates, peaks and anti-poverty activists to raise the rate of social security and abolish punitive mutual obligations does not inspire confidence in its supposed commitment to egalitarianism.^[10] Since taking office under the 47th parliament, ministers for the department of social services have referred to ‘transparency’ across 26 separate media releases, speeches, editorials and other official statements, but we are yet to see this principle applied to the realm of welfare conditionality. The AIMN reiterates our call for a complete end to CIM in Australia and urges Government to practice transparency and accountability in relation to social security policy.

For media comment, contact Priya Kunjan (AIMN Secretary) at contactaimnetwork@gmail.com