Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee [Part 2], , 2:08:13 to 2:29:23
The committee discusses an AIHW report regarding higher mortality rates for individuals on income support. The Minister defends the government's record on cost of living and job creation.
Topics: Health, Social services, Employment
Speakers: Senator Jess Walsh, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, Lisa Schofield
Okay. Um question. Um is the department aware of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's report titled mortality outcomes among people receiving income income support?
>> Yes, Senator.
>> Um has that report been circulated amongst staff such as policy or compliance teams?
>> Um the report is public senator. So it would be available for anybody that wished to look at it.
>> The department doesn't proactively share that sort of information with its teams.
>> Um I'm aware that a number of staff in the department are aware of it because of the work that we do with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, but um but no, Senator, I'm not aware. I can take it on notice, but I'm not aware that um that that was circulated um more broadly to staff.
Mhm. Minister, is the minister aware of the contents of that report?
>> Um, Senator, as the minister representing the minister, I if you wanted that information, I'd have to take it on notice.
>> Um, I can say, Senator, that we have um we haven't briefed um Minister Rishworth on this report. It's a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Um I I think if you've got questions about um how that report is engaged with at the ministerial level, it may be best directed to either AHW or
>> Um I guess is the department aware that that report says that people who are job seekers aged between 35 to 44 years old are dying at 9.6 times the rate of people who are not on jobseker.
We're, as I said, Senator, we're aware of the um the content of the report. We know that this report is um consistent from other literature that on average people receiving income support do have poorer physical and mental health outcomes than people not receiving income support. Importantly though, the report does make clear that the analysis does not examine nor does it provide evidence of a causal relationship between um receiving income support payment and subsequent death.
Um, Minister, question for you. If if if people living in poverty are 9.6 times more likely to die, is that of concern to the government?
>> Uh, thanks, um, Senator Orman Payne. I mean we um look at the payments um that are provided um and you know increase them where we can. Um you know we we know how important it is for people to be able to to live and live um an adequate um decent life on these payments. It's why we've increased um Job Seeker by um you know $4,700 um a year, you know, over our time in office. Um it's why we've boosted rent assistance by 53%. Um those are really important um reforms that we've made. They're important um improvements that we've made to the safety net. Um, we know that there's always more to to do to help people have better, more adequate um, incomes that help them lead a decent life. Um, and we try to make those improvements where we can in the budget.
>> Minister, we've got the Reserve Bank saying that we need to have an unemployment rate of around about 4% structurally baked into our system to make our economy work. We've had evidence this evening that the success rate for mutual obligations targeted compliance framework of getting people into work is below 15%. Would it not be a better spend of this government rather than spending hundreds of millions of dollars pumping money into the profits of big for-profit job service providers to abolish this system which is not working and give that money to people living in poverty as a significant increase in income support to lift them out of poverty which all the evidence tells us is the best way to help people get a job if they are able
>> Uh thank you, Senator. Um the government is committed to um creating jobs. There's 1.3 million jobs being created on this government's watch. We're committed to um settings in our economy where unemployment is as low as it possibly can be. Uh and under our government um unemployment is the lowest uh on average that it's been um in 50 uh years. Um we are committed to improving um payments for job seekers and other people who are on social security payments where we can um where the budget um gives space to do that. We've increased jobseker by over $4 and a half thousand dollars uh in our um two terms of government and rent assistance by 53%. We know that this system can work better to support people to to find work. Um that's exactly what we've been talking about tonight. Um we're um working with the department to do that on the current settings as well as engaging in the reform that is needed for the future to give people the best chance of finding work and having the security and dignity that work provides
>> and yet we still have people dying at 9.6 times the rate of someone not on income support. I have no further questions. Chair, >> thank you. Um that concludes our questions for this outcome. So thank you to officials for your service. Um the committee will take its suspension early. So um we were due to suspend for a tea break at 8:15. Um so we'll take that early and then when we return we are dealing with outcome to compare uh and then the remaining two agencies. Thank you. And I call officials from outcome 2,