New Senate Inquiry into Budget Cuts to Youth Aid finds them Incompatible with Human Rights Obligations

On 25 June 2014, the Senate resolved to establish the Select Committee into the Abbott Government's Budget Cuts. The committee is to inquire into the effect of cuts or changes in the Commonwealth budget and provide a final report to the Senate on or before 20 June 2016.

Yesterday (30 September 2014), the Senate Select Committee announced in an interim report that two of the Federal Government's proposed changes to youth welfare payments in the May budget were incompatible with human rights obligations.

Terms of Reference for Committee

The Terms of Reference for the Committee include particular reference to:

1. any reductions in access to services provided by the Commonwealth;
2. the provision of other services, programs or benefits provided by the Government affected by the budget;
3. Commonwealth – state relations and the impact of decreased Commonwealth investment on service delivery by the states;
4. the fairness and efficiency of revenue raising;
5. the structural budget balance over the forward estimates and the next 10 years;
6. the reduced investment in scientific research and infrastructure and its impact on future productivity;
7. public sector job cuts;
8. the impact of the budget on retirement incomes and pensions;
9. intergenerational mobility;
10. the impact of the budget on young people and students;
11. the impact of the budget on households; and
12. other matters the committee considers relevant.

The submissions period ended on 22 August 2014 and, in total, the Committee received 44 submissions on the Budget proposals.

Current Reaction to Youth Welfare

Under the welfare measures outlined in the May budget, ­people under 30 would be kicked off welfare payments for six months unless they enrolled in school, TAFE or apprenticeships. A range of categories of unemployed people would be exempt from the new rules.

The committee’s report said the government had failed to explain how young people would be able to sustain themselves during a six-month period without social security.

It noted in its original assessment that information regarding the likely impact of the measure on individuals and their families, and how they would retain ­access to adequate shelter and food, was “necessary in order to assess the human rights compatibility of this measure”.

The Committee found that the proposed six-month waiting period for people under 30 who were not in employment or training breached the right to social security and the right to an adequate standard of living. It also further found that the age criteria for accessing the New­start Allowance breached the rights to equality and non- discrimination on the basis of age. The right to ­social security is guaranteed by­ ­article 9 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which:

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Select Committee into the Abbott Government's Budget Cuts - Home Page

Australian Article - Abbott government’s youth welfare changes ruled unjust