Michelle Grattan speaks with Social Services Minister Christian Porter about the government's moves on domestic violence, his thinking on welfare reform and his support for making adoption easier.
What do Ceduna and the other trial sites for the Healthy Welfare Card have in common? All are country towns with a mix of Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents.
Wikimedia Commons/Nachoman-au
Income management was first applied to Indigenous communities before being implemented more widely. The Healthy Welfare Card policy appears to be on this same path.
A basic income proposal directly addresses the problem of people falling through the cracks of a complex welfare system.
AAP/Julian Smith
Might the lessons of Australia’s super-efficient welfare system offer a potential way forward for the development of a basic income – a universal, low but adequate payment?
The government has promised increased funding for services to gain community consent for its welfare card trials.
AAP/Dan Peled
How can it be determined whether any improvements that may occur as part of the 12-month “cashless debit card” trial are the result of the card or increased funding for services, or a mix of both?
The government has compromised on Family Tax Benefit measures from the 2014 budget that failed to pass the Senate.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The government’s revised Family Tax Benefit proposals will still have some significant negative impacts on low-income families, but they are not as regressive as the 2014 budget.
Joe Hockey used his valedictory speech in parliament to lay out a comprehensive reform blueprint.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The government should follow the evidence-based advice before wasting more money on a new “trial” program that further infantilises mainly Indigenous welfare recipients and won’t work.
Centrelink’s failure to answer calls is a sign of a deeper problem: a lack of respect from government services for vulnerable citizens.
Since the NT Intervention a large body of evidence has built up showing that income management does not achieve its stated goals. So why does it continue?
AAP/Dean Lewins
Various studies, culminating in the final evaluation report of income management in the Northern Territory, have found such programs don’t achieve the claimed benefits. Why did the budget extend them?
Implying that 80% of Australian income tax goes straight towards the welfare bill overlooks the fact that a large proportion of income taxpayers benefit from social security.
Patrick McClure’s recently released review of Australia’s welfare system borrowed heavily from the reform agenda across the ditch.
AAP/Dave Hunt
This year marks the 51st anniversary since Lyndon Johnson launched his War on Poverty and made poverty reduction the centerpiece of his Great Society domestic agenda. Whether we won this war, however…
Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Deputy Dean Research at Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of Melbourne