Defined Terms and Documents 'Aboriginal Teenager Life Skills' RTV Social Inclusion Early Intervention Program
Summary of McClure report into Australia's welfare system
The long-awaited report of the review into Australia’s welfare system, ‘A New System for Better Employment and Social Outcomes’, was released on 29 June 2014. While the report was commissioned in an effort to make budget savings, besides the suggested redefining of the benefit system, many of the recommendations are likely to require increased investment from the Government. Australian Disability Network ("ADN") CEO, Suzanne Colbert, has attended a roundtable discussion about the report, where report author, Patrick McClure, indicated that he believed there is a genuine opportunity to redesign the architecture of Australia’s welfare system for the medium to long term.
The Reference Group, headed by Mr McClure, reports that Australia’s welfare system is no longer in step with community expectations, or Australia’s labour market and economy. The current system, comprising 20 different benefit categories, and more than 50 separate allowances, is confusing, unwieldy and unsustainable. The Reference Group calls for greater productivity, streamlined services, and a more individualised approach to employment services.
The report is built on four
pillars (quite literally, if you view the full report);
1. simpler and sustainable income support;
2. strengthening individual and family
capability;
3. engaging with employers; and,
4. building community capacity.
The report states that “the social support system should provide adequate support while encouraging more people to work to their capacity. It should also help people build the capacity they need to participate economically and socially, to the extent they are able.” This is a commendable sentiment; however some recommendations in the report have caused heightened anxiety, fear and anger amongst people with disability and disability advocates, particularly the recommendations around limiting access to the Disability Support Pension (DSP), and moving people with disability who have some capacity to work onto the lower rate of Newstart Allowance.
Pillar Three, ‘Engaging with Employers’, states that employers should be encouraged to make jobs available for people with disability, and stresses the importance of tailored support services to sustain employment outcomes. The report also states that “cooperation of employers is central to achieving positive outcomes for disadvantaged groups.”
The Australian Employment Convenant, a national initiative to secure 50,000 jobs for Indigenous Australians, is used as an example of business embracing social responsibility, and is suggested as an approach to drive better employment outcomes for disadvantaged jobseekers.
A case study featuring AND Gold member Westpac Group is included in the report, citing their impressive statistics of having over 12% of their workforce as people with disability, and Platinum member IBM is also mentioned as an example of a leading organisation with successful inclusive recruitment practices.
Mentoring is singled out as an effective way to improve pathways to employment for disadvantaged jobseekers, and AND’s mentoring program ‘PACE’ (Positive Action towards Career Engagement), is highlighted as a successful example of a mentoring program.
Inclusive strategies that raise awareness about the benefits of workplace diversity are recommended to change negative perception and stereotypes of people with disability as employees. The report highlights that some employers still have concerns about the perceived risks of employing people with disability, particularly around work health and safety obligations, despite clear evidence to the contrary. The practice of external recruitment providers putting forward only ‘low risk’ candidates (i.e. those without disability or any disadvantage) is also highlighted. Changing these perceptions can have a positive influence on employment outcomes for people with disability.
The report also calls for employment service providers to be much more employer focused, and to work more strategically to effectively match candidates with disability with suitable jobs, rather than putting forward candidates who do not have the skills and experience that employers are looking for.