The Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) has been joined by numerous other community organisations across the country is calling for the federal government to cease its relentless attack on people living in or at risk of poverty.
Here’s their statement:
We stand together to say enough is enough. Social security is a right.
We condemn this government’s latest attempts to dismantle Australia’s social safety net by cutting income support payments for people already living below the poverty line.
We are a wealthy country and we should take pride in treating each other with dignity. We should take pride in maintaining and strengthening our social safety net for everyone when they need it most.
The social safety net is there to support us if we lose our job, get sick, undertake study, care for children or someone else, have a disability, or need support when we get older.
It is an entitlement, not a crime, to receive an income support payment in Australia.
This government must stop treating people on low incomes as though they are doing something wrong or breaking the law, just because they are receiving a payment.
Poverty exists.
We see it every day when we meet families who cannot afford to put a roof over their heads, and single parents who skip a meal so their children can attend a school excursion. We see it with people locked out of paid work who cannot afford three meals a day, and with people living in darkness because the cost of energy has become luxury.
Three million people already live below the poverty line in Australia, of whom 731,000 are children.
Yet there is legislation before parliament which aims to further cut income support payments, including for people studying or training, people who are bereaved, people who are unemployed, single parents, people with a disability, and older people who have migrated to Australia.
There is also legislation before parliament to cut the $38-per-day unemployment payment, even though it is well below the poverty line.
We call on parliament to stop cutting the incomes of people who have the least, and to oppose legislation that demonises the very people our safety net is designed to support.
We call on government to focus on strengthening our social safety net to reduce poverty and inequality in Australia. We can begin by lifting allowance payments by at least $55 per week to give people in need a helping hand, rather than pushing them over.
Let’s help people out of poverty, not send more people under.
Click here to sign the petition today.
The nine un-legislated cuts to income support payments currently before parliament include:
Removing deemed claim provisions for people accessing income support, effectively cutting payments for people experiencing disadvantage
Doubling the Liquid Assets waiting period making some people wait 6 months before accessing an income support payment, affecting 13,800 people
Cutting the Bereavement Allowance by $1,300
Tightening compliance rules for people seeking work, which will cut social security payments for 83,000 people
Cutting the Energy Supplement, affecting 1.7 million people receiving income support payments
Cutting the Pensioner Education Supplement affecting 39,700 people, including single parents, disability support pensioners and carers
Cutting the Education Entry Payment, affecting 56,100 people
Denying some migrants a pension for up to 15 years, affecting 2,300 people
Cutting the GST Supplement for pensioners who spend more than six weeks overseas
Measures that demonise people receiving income support payments include:
Drug testing 5,000 people who are unemployed
Placing people who return a positive drug test under income management
Denying people with addiction exemptions from mutual obligation
Forcing single parents to have a third party verify they are single
Sending threatening letters and text messages from Centrelink and the Australian Federal Police demanding people update their details
Continuation of Robodebt
Continuing blanket income management for people living in remote areas
Continuation of Work for the Dole and the Community Development Program despite very poor outcomes
Click here to sign the petition.
Signatories to the Joint Statement:
Australian Council of Social Service
ACT Council of Social Service
Anglicare Australia
Australian Association of Social Workers
Australian Catholic Social Justice Council
Australian Unemployed Workers Union
Australian Youth Affairs Coalition
Baptist Care Australia
Brotherhood of St Laurence
Carers Australia
Catholic Social Services Australia
Children and Young People with Disability Australia
cohealth
Community Mental Health Australia
Council to Homeless Persons
Disability Advocacy Network Australia Ltd
Disabled People’s Organisations Australia
Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia
Financial Counselling Australia
First Peoples Disability Network
Homelessness Australia
Indian (Sub-Cont) Crisis and Support Agency
Infoxchange
Mission Australia
National Association of Community Legal Centres
National Council of Single Mothers & their Children Inc
National Ethnic Disability Alliance
National Shelter
Newman Women’s Shelter
NSW Council of Social Service
People with Disability Australia
Queensland Council of Social Service
SA Council of Social Service
St Vincent de Paul Society
Synod of Victoria and Tasmania, Uniting Church in Australia
Volunteering Australia
WA Council of Social Service
Welfare Rights Centre NSW
Women with Disabilities Australia
Associate Prof Beth Goldblatt, University of Technology Sydney
Outrageous.