SUBJECTS: Strengthening job seeker engagement with Centrelink
MARK PARTON:
We're told this morning that more than 200,000 job seekers risk losing welfare payments if they fail to front for face-to-face interviews at Centrelink as part of the Federal Government's crackdown. Crackdown is the word being used in a major toughening of Labor's employment policy.
The new rules will target young job seekers, long-term unemployed and early school leavers. People who have recently lost their jobs will also be required to attend interviews instead of just submitting a form or lose dole payments.
Now, the crackdown's going to be announced officially today and basically it shows that Labor is going to go head-to-head with the Coalition on employment policy.
We've got Chris Bowen, Federal Minister for Human Services, on the line right now. Hello, Chris.
CHRIS BOWEN:
Good morning, Mark. Good to talk to you.
PARTON:
I think this is going to resonate in a very positive way with voters. I guess there is some scepticism about the timing of it?
BOWEN:
Well, whether it resonates with voters or not is something I'm not sure about, but it's certainly something we've been working on for some time. We announced last year some changes to the way Centrelink would interact with job seekers, to require more frequent interaction through a range of mechanisms, not just coming into the office but telephone and Internet.
And with the changing unemployment rate, with us being able to get through the global financial crisis with the second lowest unemployment rate in the developed world, we need to focus on mutual obligation. So we'll be requiring certain segments of job seekers to report more face-to-face to Centrelink, particularly the newly unemployed, people under 25, early school leavers and people with a poor compliance history with Centrelink.
And importantly, Mark, this won't be just a tick and flick. In the past, the interviews that unemployed people have had to do with Centrelink had been one minute and about 30 seconds of that was focused on what they're actually doing to get a job.
These will be much more intensive interviews, five minutes long, going into what the person is doing to get a job, what they've done since their last interview, and really going through what they are doing as their part of the mutual obligation and if there's any other assistance they need. And importantly, our range of technologies, voice recognition and the Internet, means that we can do both at the same time. We can require more interaction and more face-to-face.
PARTON:
Chris, I can just about hear a collective cheer from listeners at this radio station saying 'Yes, yes, this is the sort of thing that should be happening'.
But again, I go back to the scepticism that it sounds like a wonderful idea, as so many the ideas from your Government have in the last two years. Can it be delivered in the way that it's being sold?
BOWEN:
Absolutely, we've done a lot of work on this. Centrelink is, frankly, a very professional organisation and they are very confident they can deliver this and deliver it well.
You know, good news stories don't often get mentioned, Mark, but you know there's a lot of good things the Government has delivered and delivered seamlessly, and you wouldn't read about it. It's the things where you have the occasional problem that get all the attention. That's understandable, that's fine, but we just get on with the job and deliver services, and that's not going to get the same amount of attention.
PARTON:
When you put a plan like this on the table, do you fear that there will be bleatings from the, I don't know, the left of your supporter base, comparing you to the likes of Tony Abbott and John Howard?
BOWEN:
These matters are always controversial, Mark. There will always be people who will say we've gone too far, there will always be people who say that we're being punitive. I don't think we are. It's about mutual obligation, it's about working together and it's about helping people get a job.
Frankly, I don't think that people who are on unemployment benefits, on Newstart for a long period of time, are doing themselves any favours if they are able to change that situation. It's not in their long-term best interest to be on the Newstart Allowance, it's certainly not in the nation's best interest, but it's not in their best interest.
So these are always matters of balance. There will always be people who have a different view, but we think we have the balance very much right here.
PARTON:
Is it possible to read between the lines of this announcement and say that this is the Rudd Government saying to some of those long-term unemployed, 'Look, we think it's easier to get a job than perhaps you do and maybe you should try harder'?
BOWEN:
Well, certainly, as I say, having got through the global financial crisis when at one point it looked like we might have unemployment hitting eight per cent, we've managed to get through with unemployment heading towards having a four in front of it and that does change the dynamic. It means that Centrelink is able to concentrate more on those people who may have a poor compliance history or may be vulnerable to becoming long-term unemployed and to ensuring: a) that we're doing everything we can help them; and b) they're doing everything they can do to help themselves.
PARTON:
Certainly laying a policy like this on the table makes it harder for the Opposition to be heard when they talk about getting tough in this area?
BOWEN:
They've been talking about this for a little while, but they haven't actually been proposing any policies, and of course we've strengthened the policy that we inherited from them. So we've been very active on this, we think it's appropriate, and they continue to talk about it but we'll get on and do it.
PARTON:
Chris, thanks for coming on the program this morning, really appreciate it.
BOWEN:
Nice to talk to you Mark. Cheers.