Social security in Australia


Social security in Australia refers to a system of social welfare payments provided by the Australian Government and the states and territories of Australia to eligible Australian citizens, permanent residents, and limited international visitors. These payments are almost always administered by Centrelink, a program of Services Australia. In Australia, most payments are means tested.
The system includes payments to retirees, job seekers, parents, people with disabilities and their caregivers, guardians of orphans, students and apprentices, and people who have no way of supporting themselves.

History

Prior to 1900 in Australia, charitable assistance from benevolent societies, sometimes with financial contributions from the authorities, was the primary means of relief for people not able to support themselves. The 1890s economic depression and the rise of the trade unions and the Labor parties during this period led to a movement for welfare reform.
In 1900, New South Wales and Victoria enacted legislation introducing non-contributory pensions for those aged 65 and over. Queensland legislated a similar system in 1907 before the Deakin government introduced a national aged pension under the Invalid and Old-Aged Pensions Act 1908. A national invalid disability pension was started in 1910, and a national maternity allowance was introduced in 1912. The old age pension and invalid pension were restricted to those of "good character", and the maternity allowance was not given to Aboriginals, Asians, or Pacific Islanders. Also in 1907, the Harvester case created a living wage with the assumptions of a man with three children and a dependent wife, closer to subsistence than a comfortable existence.
In 1923, the Bruce-Page government announced plans to develop a comprehensive national social security scheme, which was typically referred to as National Insurance in line with the terminology used in Britain. The government established a royal commission on national insurance in 1923 and introduced a bill in 1928, which failed to pass before the government was defeated. The Lyons government later passed the National Health and Pensions Insurance Act 1938, which would have enacted the scheme but was ultimately abandoned in the lead-up to World War II. Lacking a national scheme forms of government welfare were administered by local and state governments. The introduction of various schemes, and improvements in them, were often secured after protest campaigns by unemployed community members.
During the Second World War, the federal government significantly accelerated the development of Australia's welfare state, led by Prime Minister John Curtin and Treasurer Ben Chifley. The Menzies government enacted a child endowment scheme in 1941, while the Curtin government enacted a widows' pension in 1942 ; a wife's allowance in 1943; additional allowances for the children of pensioners in 1943; and unemployment, sickness, and special benefits in 1945. The success of the 1946 Social Services referendum modified the Australian Constitution explicitly granting the Commonwealth power to legislate for maternity allowances, widows pensions, child endowment, unemployment, pharmaceutical, sickness and hospital benefits, medical and dental services, and student and family allowances, allowing further welfare initiatives by Prime Minister Ben Chifley's post-war government. From the end of the Second World War until 1975, Australian governments had a policy of full employment – from 1946 the Commonwealth Employment Service assisted a quarter of the workforce in finding paid employment that was suited to them, helping to keep the unemployment rate very low.
In 2001, Amanda Vanstone and Tony Abbott made a joint cabinet submission arguing that particular groups of welfare recipients, particularly single parents, needed to be "guided towards work" through compulsion, including literacy programs, regular reporting by recipients, and a Work for the Dole scheme.
The Social Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2017 has changed several aspects of social security in Australia, and has been given assent to as of 11 April 2018. It includes a demerit-point system for not meeting welfare obligations. As of June 2018, former social security recipients who owe a debt to Centrelink will not be allowed to travel outside Australia until they have repaid their debt, with interest.

Contemporary welfare attitudes

and Clyde Cameron popularised the term "dole bludger" in the 1970s, causing welfare recipients to be viewed as parasites upon "ordinary Australian" taxpayers. Prior to this, high unemployment was seen as a failure of the economy and government, not individual welfare recipients. Negative characterisations were challenged during the 1970s and 1980s by unemployed organisations. These organised numerous protests and marches, which typically demanded that governments do more to create work, that welfare payments match the cost of living, and that social security recipients not be subject to invasive and patronising treatment. Economists argue that Australia needs more unemployed people to control demand and therefore inflation. Current attitudes toward welfare in Australia can be separated into support for the welfare system and support for welfare recipients. A 2015 multivariate analysis using canonical correlation analysis identified five distinct profiles of welfare attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics.
The main attitude cluster was one toward support for the welfare system and welfare recipients. Having received government welfare in the past strongly predicted a person supporting the welfare system and its beneficiaries. The next most prominent attitude profile was summarised as "the welfare system is good but the people on it are lazy and dependent". This attitude profile was found among people receiving welfare payments that were either normative or where there is little expectation that a person will return to work. A 2017 study showed that overall, Australians held more negative attitudes toward welfare recipients than they did the welfare system. People with a history of receiving unemployment benefits had more negative welfare attitudes if they lived in areas where other community members had more negative attitudes.

Eligibility and exclusions

are eligible for various payments that they may be entitled to. New Zealand citizens have to pass a range of criteria to access different levels of payments, Permanent residents have to pass various waiting periods of between one and four years to become eligible for various levels of benefits.
Asylum seekers in Australia who have applied for a protection visa and whose bridging visa has expired have no access to Centrelink payments or other social services, nor Medicare benefits, and are not allowed to work. It was estimated in July 2022 that there were around 2000 people in this situation.

Legal framework

Social security payments and other benefits are currently made available under the following acts of parliament:
  • Social Security Act 1991
  • A New Tax System Act 1999
  • Student Assistance Act 1973
  • ''Paid Parental Leave Act 2010''

    Payments under the ''Social Security Act'' and the ''Student Assistance Act''

These are available only to the "domestic students", i.e. Australian citizens and permanent residents, etc. These benefits are not available to the "international students".
  • ABSTUDY – offers a range of allowances to assist Indigenous students and New Apprentices.
  • Age Pension – for people planning for retirement or who are already retired aged 67 years and over.
  • Assistance for Isolated Children – for families with a child who cannot attend school locally because of distance or special needs.
  • Austudy Payment – for full-time students and New Apprentices aged 25 years or over.
  • Carer Allowance – for people who care for individuals over 16 years with a disability or age-related special need.
  • Carer Allowance – for people who care for a child under 16 years with a disability.
  • Carer Payment – for people who provide full-time care for someone with a disability
  • Disability Support Pension – for people unable to work for at least 2 years due to illness, injury or disability.
  • Double Orphan Pension – for people who are raising children who have lost both parents.
  • Maternity Payment – for help with those extra costs after the birth of a new baby.
  • JobSeeker Payment – for people who are looking for employment, also often given to those in the application process for Disability Support Pension.
  • Parenting Payment – for parents or guardians to help with the cost of raising children under 6 for partnered parents and under 14 for sole parents.
  • Pensioner Education Supplement – for people on pensions with education expenses.
  • Special Benefit – for people who are in financial hardship, have no way of supporting themselves and are not entitled to another payment
  • Youth Allowance – for full-time students or New Apprentices aged 15 16 to 24 and people aged under 21 who are undertaking job search or a combination of approved activities.

    Income support

All Centrelink income support payments are payable fortnightly, usually by direct deposit into the recipient's bank account. They are also subject to a means test which calculates the recipient fortnightly income and assets and affects the rate of their payment accordingly. As such, people on lower incomes may be entitled to part-payment of their allowance. The assessment of income and assets varies greatly between different social security payments and the effect that income and assets have on each payment differs in that they have different income thresholds and different taper rates.
An individual may be precluded from claiming any of income support payments listed below for a certain number of weeks following receipt of a lump sum compensation payment, made wholly or partly in respect of lost earnings or lost capacity to earn resulting from personal injury. The number of weeks for which the preclusion period applies to an individual is proportional the size of the lump sum payment they received. Centrelink has a discretion to reduce the duration of the preclusion period if it is satisfied that there exist special circumstances that make an individual's case out of the ordinary: for example, extreme financial hardship.