My new report for the royal commission examines why the practice of income averaging is so problematic.
Academic rigour, journalistic flair
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Robodebt should never again be framed as a technological glitch or a legal oversight. It was the active and direct exploitation of people’s vulnerability.
ParentsNext requires the parents of very young children to perform monitored activities in return for Centrelink payments. Eve Vincent talks to single mothers about ‘the indignity of investigation’.
As a woman living on the disability support pension put it: ‘You don’t have the flexibility that a rich person has to respond to crisis, so you have to beg for help. And you know you’ll be judged’.
Robodebt sent a clear message to Australians that their government did not trust them.
Instead of applying for 20 jobs a month, from Monday July 4 Australians on JobSeeker payments will have to earn 100 points a month. So what will you actually need to do?
You might be surprised to know that many unemployed Australians are not on unemployment benefits. And then came COVID – which saw a big shift in how many people were able and willing to claim.
With the end of JobKeeper come changes that will force more people to search for work.
Two-thirds of those surveyed want it linked to wages.
The combination of community activism, journalistic investigation, political scrutiny and the legal aid system has ultimately provided a remedy to the victims.
ParentsNext compels mothers into makework rather than work and devalues the work they do.
The government will repay interest and collection fees. What it hasn’t agreed to, yet, is the payment of damages.
The MyGov website ground to a halt this week as thousands of people tried to access welfare support. As a result, long queues popped up at Centrelink offices across the country.
Australia’s unemployment benefits are now middle of the pack, but the package treats two-income couples badly.
The Minister for Government Services has announced a two-year roadmap to supposedly propel e-government. But the plans, part of a larger strategy, are considerably lacking substance.
The Commonwealth has conceded that its program of automatic debt collection was unlawful. It’ll probably have to pay the money back.
The Department of Human Service’s customer compliance staff will now be required to seek “additional proof” rather than solely relying on income averaging when determining if there is a debt.
Getting people off welfare appears to “disappear” as many as it puts into jobs.
Newstart increases are projected to get smaller and smaller relative to pension increases. By the end of the century Newstart will be just two fifths of the pension.
Robodebt isn’t slowing down, and its being augmented with other ways of belittling beneficiaries.
Top contributors
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Peter Whiteford is a Friend of The Conversation.Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Sydney
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Professorial Fellow, Jumbunna IHL, University of Technology Sydney
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Associate Professor, School of Law, University of Canberra
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Professor, Digital Sociology and Social Policy, The University of Queensland
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Associate Professor, Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW Sydney
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Professor, Curtin Law School and Curtin Business School, Curtin University
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Senior Lecturer, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Macquarie University
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Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Emeritus Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne
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Professor, College of Business, Government & Law, Flinders University
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Senior Lecturer, University of Wollongong
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Professor of Public Policy, University of Adelaide
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Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University
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Foundation Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies, The University of Melbourne
