Social security safety net

Build a better SOCIAL SECURITY

SAFETY NET for First Nations people


No one should be forced to live in poverty in a country as wealthy as Australia.
Yet, the social security system is trapping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in poverty.

We’re urging the Albanese Government to:

1.

Increase all Centrelink payments to above the Henderson Poverty Line

2.

Abolish mutual obligations and cease all funding to private JobActive agencies

3.

Abolish the ParentsNext program and replace it with voluntary, evidence-based programs that support parents, value caring labour, and break down structural barriers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents face in the labour market

4.

Abolish compulsory income management and make participation in income management schemes voluntary and supportive

How does the current Social Security system keep First Nations people trapped in poverty?

We know that poverty is a key driver of First Nations peoples into the criminal legal system, and traps women in violent relationships.

In 2020, Jobseeker and related payments in the form of the Coronavirus Supplement doubled. The rate of poverty in single parent households fell from over 20% to 7.6%. For the first time, people were able to afford rent, bills, fresh food, medicines, essential medical, dental and mental healthcare.

We saw how increasing social security payments made an incredible difference to the quality of lives of First Nations peoples around the continent. Despite this, the supplement was removed completely in 2021 and Australia’s unemployment payment has been returned to below-poverty-levels.



What's wrong with mutual obligation and compulsory income management policies?

There's considerable evidence that the punitive mutual obligations scheme is ineffective, expensive and results in people being cut off from payments and driven further into poverty.

Social security should be a safety net, not a punishment.


Our social security system should be designed to support people and families out of poverty, have voluntary mechanisms to support job seekers find work and address the structural barriers that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples face in the labour market.