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"Get a job": Ben Fordham slammed over interview with welfare recipient

Ben Fordham has come under fire for a patronising interview with a welfare recipient, in which he tried to get the man, who is unable to work, a job live on air. On Wednesday morning, the 2GB radio host spoke with Jez Heywood, who is president of the Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union, and has been out of work since 2017 due to several health conditions. Mr Heywood had recently spoken to The Australian, sharing his frustration about the $20-a-week increase to Jobseeker, saying he was “angry” and “annoyed” at the federal government, describing the $2.85-a-day increase as “absolutely nothing”. Mr Heywood's commentary on the Jobseeker budget increase caught the attention of 2GB, who invited him to speak to Fordham, saying he “wanted to see whether we can find Jez a job”. Fordham asked Heywood if he was looking for work, to which Heywood shared that he is looking for work, but it is hard to find a job that would be suitable given his physical and mental health barriers. In response, Fordham told Heywood that "there are 54,000 jobs available right now in Melbourne". "That’s on the Workforce Australia website. So none of those 54,000 jobs are suitable to you or you’ve applied for them and they’re just not giving you the nod?" Heywood said he is applying for jobs that are "suitable" for his conditions, and is hearing nothing back from prospective employers. Fordham said a job would seemingly fix everything for Heywood, saying, "I reckon we can help your mental health if we get you into a job." Heywood seemingly appreciated the help, but also said it is important for him to consider what he is able to achieve in a job given his limitations. The tense exchange between Fordham and Heywood continued, as Heywood voiced his concerns and limitations with working, as Fordham seemed to dismiss his worries and said everything would be fine if he simply returned to work as a graphic designer. After the call, Heywood took aim at Fordham on social media, slamming the host as a “coward and a bully who’s been taking potshots at welfare recipients from the safety of his cosy radio studio for years”. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> You're a dog Ben Fordham — Vulgar Boatman (@satisjacktion) <a href="https://twitter.com/satisjacktion/status/1658691768706269184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I’ve never met a dole bludger. I *have* met plenty of people with unresolved trauma and mental and physical illnesses (often not-yet-diagnosed), who probably LOOK like bludgers, through a telephoto lens. People who are doing okay WANT to be busy and to work. — Catherine Caine (@CatherineCaine) <a href="https://twitter.com/CatherineCaine/status/1658665436916101120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 17, 2023</a></blockquote> He stood by his opinion that the Jobseeker payment should be at least $88 a day to keep recipients above the poverty line, and condemned Fordham for “calling me a dole bludger on national radio”. Fordham doubled down on his condescending treatment of Mr Heywood, saying, "I just want to find you a job, Jez." Image credits: Getty Images / Twitter

Money & Banking

World's first recipient to receive a pig heart tragically dies

The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months after the groundbreaking experiment. David Bennett, aged 57, died Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Centre. Doctors didn't give an exact cause of death, saying only that his condition had begun deteriorating several days earlier. Bennett's son praised the hospital for offering the last-ditch experiment, saying the family hoped it would help further efforts to end the organ shortage. "We are grateful for every innovative moment, every crazy dream, every sleepless night that went into this historic effort," David Bennett Jr. said in a statement released by the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "We hope this story can be the beginning of hope and not the end." Doctors for decades have sought to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Bennett, a handyman from Hagerstown, Maryland, was a candidate for this newest attempt only because he otherwise faced certain death, ineligible for a human heart transplant, bedridden and on life support, and out of other options. After the operation on the 7th of January, Bennett's son told the Associated Press his father knew there was no guarantee it would work. Prior attempts at such transplants - or xenotransplantation - have failed largely because patients' bodies rapidly rejected the animal organ. This time, the Maryland surgeons used a heart from a gene-edited pig. Scientists had modified the animal to remove pig genes that trigger the hyper-fast rejection and add human genes to help the body accept the organ. "We are devastated by the loss of Mr Bennett. He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought all the way to the end," Dr Bartley Griffith, who performed the surgery at the Baltimore hospital, said in a statement. Other transplant experts praised the Maryland team's landmark research and said Bennett's death shouldn't slow the push to figure out how to use animal organs to save human lives. "It was an incredible feat that he was kept alive for two months and was able to enjoy his family," Montgomery added. The Food and Drug Administration had allowed the dramatic experiment under "compassionate use" rules for emergency situations. Bennett's doctors said he had heart failure and an irregular heartbeat, plus a history of not complying with medical instructions. He was deemed ineligible for a human heart transplant that requires strict use of immune-suppressing medicines, or the remaining alternative, an implanted heart pump. From Bennett's experience, "we have gained invaluable insights learning that the genetically modified pig heart can function well within the human body while the immune system is adequately suppressed", said Dr Muhammad Mohiuddin, scientific director of the Maryland university's animal-to-human transplant program. Patients may see Bennett's death as suggesting a short life-expectancy from xenotransplantation, but the experience of one ill person cannot predict how well this procedure ultimately will work, said ethics expert Karen Maschke of The Hastings Center. Transplant centres need to start educating their patients now about what to expect as this science unfolds, said Maschke, who with funding from the National Institutes of Health is developing ethics and policy recommendations on who should be allowed in the first studies of pig kidneys and what they need to know before volunteering. Image: University of Merryland

Body

“We are making history”: World’s first recipient of new Alzheimer's drug

A man from Rhode Island, USA, has become the first patient in the world to receive an infusion of a controversial Alzheimer's disease drug. Marc Archambault, 70, has been treated with aducanumab, which was approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on June 7th. The drug works by removing the sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid-beta from the brains of patients in the earlier stages of Alzheimer's. Critics aren't happy with the decision, saying clinical trials were mixed and question if the approval process of the drug was too quick. Archambault is happy with being treated. "I am a happy guy but hearing that the FDA had approved Aduhelm and that I am eligible for the treatment, I am living happier of course," Archambault said in a statement. "The thought that the last stage [of Alzheimer's] may now be far away for me, or even that I might stay as I am, is incredible. I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to receive this treatment." Dr Stephen Salloway, who oversees the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital has said that 100 patients will be given the drug once a month. "Today, we're making history," he said at a press conference on Wednesday. "We're opening a new era in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease." 10 out of 11 members of the FDA advisory board voted against the drug's approval in November, but the FDA is allowed to make decisions that go against the board's vote. The controversial rollout also caused three members of the board to step down from their positions. "[Aducanumab] probably the worst drug approval decision in recent U.S. history," Kesselheim wrote in a letter to FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock on Thursday, per <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.statnews.com/2021/06/10/third-member-of-fda-expert-committee-resigns-over-controversial-alzheimers-therapy-decision/" target="_blank">Stat News.</a> "It is clear to me that FDA is not presently capable of adequately integrating the Committee's scientific recommendations into its approval decisions."

Caring

Legion of Honour recipient appears in court for WW1 brick scam

A NSW woman who used funds from a charity she co-founded purporting to sell bricks to establish a memorial at the Pozieres battlefield in France for her own personal use has avoided a prison term for the theft. Instead, Yvonne Mary Hall, who is a recipient of France’s prestigious Legion of Honour, was ordered to complete a 16-month intensive corrections order by a magistrate at Coffs Harbour Local Court on Monday. The 69-year-old had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and one charge of using a false document to influence exercise of public duty. The Pozieres Remembrance Association, which Hall co-founded in 2010 and acted as the secretary of, claims to have sold over 4200 bricks for $50 apiece - raising $210,000 ($NZD 224,000) in total - since 2014. The funds were meant to go towards a memorial honouring the 6800 Anzacs who died during the battles at the French village during the First World War. Hall instead made 143 transactions - withdrawing approximately $140,000 - to pay for her own everyday living expenses, as well as a gambling addiction and online shopping habit. “The breach of trust was obviously very significant indeed. She was in a position of secretary of the organisation and she directly breached that trust,” magistrate Ian Rodgers said. When passing down the sentence, Mr Rodgers acknowledged she had repaid all but $8052 of the stolen funds. Along with the corrections order, he ordered Hall to complete 100 hours of community service and repay the money owed. Hall’s lawyer said the association had paid to ensure the inscribed bricks were still manufactured, and it was the defence’s understanding that the bricks were en-route to France by boat and would be placed on the site soon. Jacqueline Kennedy bought a brick to honour her great-uncle Percy Smythe, who fought in and survived Pozieres. Sitting in the public gallery during the hearing, she had purchased the brick in 2015 and asked the Department of Fair Trading to investigate after wondering what had happened and where the money went. She said she was satisfied with Monday’s sentence and that she was happy Hall was being “treated like the criminal that she is”. “I always knew that it would be a non-custodial sentence because of her age and health, and does like to play on that, but I’m very satisfied with the seriousness with which the judge took the case and handed down the sentence,” Ms Kennedy said outside court. Hall was awarded the Legion of Honour, France’s highest order of merit, for raising awareness of the Battle of Pozieres and strengthening Australian-French relations. Image: Getty Images

Retirement Income

Pauline Hanson wages war on welfare recipients

Pauline Hanson has claimed people on welfare have “lost their rights” in a scathing speech where she was also asked directed to withdraw personal comments she made towards an Aboriginal senator. Speaking in support of cashless debit cards that critics have dubbed as “racist”, the One Nation leader shocked the chamber on Wednesday by declaring anyone relying on welfare had forfeited their right to decide how they spend the money. The card links 80 per cent of welfare payments to a cashless card to stop the purchase of drugs, alcohol and pornography. “That’s what this card is about. It’s not about a person’s rights,’’ Senator Hanson said. “When you go onto this card, you basically lose your rights as well. If you go on a welfare system, you’ve lost your rights.” The Morrison Government’s plan to introduce to welfare card as a permanent initiative didn’t go down too well after Senator Rex Patrick announced he would oppose the legislation. But the plan was back in action after Stirling Griff from Centre Alliance indicated he would back changed to extend it for two years. Hanson has said there have been many positive effects that came from the cashless welfare card, which restricts recipients from spending money on drugs, alcohol and pornography. “There have been increased purchases of baby items, food, clothing, shoes, toys and other goods for children,’’ she said. “That’s why they are quite happy to be on the card. They can say: ‘I can’t give you money. I haven’t got it.’ Humbugging is in these communities. They know that family members are taking money from them.” However, the One Nation leader then turned her sights on the Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe who has described the card as “racist.” “I can’t let go what Senator Thorpe said earlier in this chamber. She commented that it’s her land,’’ Senator Hanson said. “Senator Thorpe talks about her land. What about the white part? Where’s her white father in all of this, who I should say is a member of the One Nation party?.” The remarks then prompted a demand from the Deputy President of the Senate Sue Lines that Senator Hanson withdraw the remarks. “Senator Hanson, are you arguing with the Deputy President of the Senate? I’ve directed you to withdraw those remarks,’’ she said. “It is my responsibility under the standing orders of the Senate to ensure that debate is within the standing orders. I further remind you of a statement the President made on several occasions in this place about how this is a workplace and how we need to respect one another and to not refer to other senators in a personal way. So I would ask you to withdraw the remarks that you made about Senator Thorpe’s family. “It’s not a debating point. I’m directing you to do that, so please do that."

News

Fairer fines for social security recipients

Just when many thought the NSW Government didn’t have a heart, it has introduced a new policy that will enable residents who are struggling financially to have their fines halved. And the extra good news is that these are changes will take effect from 1 July 2020 and are meant to be permanent. The changes will apply fines collected by Revenue NSW, <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/frequently-asked-questions-about-traffic-cases/">including traffic, speeding</a> and parking fines, which could save people who are doing it tough, hundreds of dollars on fines, given that <a href="http://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/traffic/lawyers/">traffic offences</a> alone can cost hundreds of dollars, although demerit points will still apply. The new policy also covers police issued infringement notices for offences such as stealing, offensive behaviour, and intoxicated and <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/police-move-on-powers-penalise-the-vulnerable-review/">disorderly conduct.</a> There are some exemptions, including voting-related fines, jury duty fines and fines issued to body corporates. <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/coronavirus-nsw-residents-on-centrelink-can-get-a-50-per-cent-discount-on-fines/news-story/52d2087887c757a896b21db1bfa25209">The reforms will also allow more flexibility</a> around payment of fines, meaning that people can set up a payment plan at any time – previously payment plans were only considered when a fine was overdue. Who is eligible? Anyone who receives Centrelink payments is eligible to have their penalty payment reduced, including anyone currently receiving the JobKeeper payment which was introduced by the Federal Government as part of its <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/covid-19-social-controls-an-authoritarian-wet-dream-in-progress/">COVID-19 </a>economic stimulus package. However, the fifty percent reduction doesn’t automatically apply. Revenue NSW will conduct an initial assessment to see whether the fine can be paid in full on a payment plan, or resolved through a work development order, which allows people to reduce their fines in exchange for unpaid work or participation in courses or treatment programs. Many NSW residents are doing it tough The changes reflect the fact that the NSW Government has recognised that a lot of people are in financial hardship, not just as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but as a result of <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/too-little-too-late-morrison-will-mourn-bushfire-victims/">bushfires </a>and droughts too. And for many people, fines only lead to further financial disadvantage and perpetuates the cycle of never-ending poverty. Two million Australians in poverty… and the number is rising A Productivity Report issued in 2015-16 counted 2.2 million Australians in poverty, with people in single-parent families, unemployed people, people with disabilities and Indigenous Australians particularly likely to experience income poverty, deprivation and social exclusion. And the worrying part of this statistic is that in 2015-2016, Australia was on the back of two and a half decades of strong growth. Now, after devastating natural disasters and a global pandemic since then, the economy has flatlined, causing significant unemployment which will only add to the number of Australians finding themselves without enough money to get by. And, as the mental health experts keep pointing out, financial stress is one of the main causes of anxiety and depression which, when severe enough, can lead to lives spiraling out of control. Fines are big business for the NSW government. It collected $485 million in traffic and other fines in 2018-19. This is on top of the $221 million revenue raised through parking fines. This amounts to about 30% of the state’s income. But for many this will be a big relief, and the New South Wales government should be applauded for introducing sensible policy that puts people’s well-being ahead of government coffers. Written by Sonia Hickey. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/fairer-fines-for-social-security-recipients/">Sydney Criminal Lawyers. </a>

Caring

Why the government is persisting on cashless debit cards for welfare recipients

It would be nice if the “facts” being thrown around in the debate over the Cashless Debit Card were peer-reviewed, or even just evidence-based. Instead, there are <a href="https://www.anneruston.com.au/joint_media_release_expanding_the_cashless_welfare_in_hervey_bay_and_bundaberg">anecdotes</a>. And it’s these that are being used to justify the government’s decision to spend <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/chamber/hansards/91962b64-398e-400e-ae19-98cf415623ec/toc_pdf/Senate_2019_07_31_7091_Official.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">A$128.8 million</a> over four years continuing the existing trial of the cashless debit card in five sites in Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia and extending it to Cape York and all of the Northern Territory. The extension will lift the number of people on the card from 11,000 to 33,000. Most will be Indigenous people - its disproportionate targeting has already attracted the attention of the <a href="http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b629ee_01e1002bbfc748459d2a323d278d9300.pdf">National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples and the Human Rights Commission</a>. The cashless card was recommended to Prime Minister Tony Abbott in a <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/Forrest-Review.pdf">report</a> from mining billionaire Andrew Forrest in 2014. He initially called it the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/healthy-welfare-card-begins-here-where-next-50756">Healthy Welfare Card</a>”. It wasn’t a new idea. Some A$1 billion dollars had already been spent on income management programs in the past, many of which had <a href="https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/highlights/evaluating-new-income-management-northern-territory-final-evaluation-report-and-summary">failed to meet their stated objectives</a>. It’s been tried before The biggest was the Basics Card introduced as part of the 2007 Northern Territory Emergency Response (the “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Territory_National_Emergency_Response">Intervention</a>”) which was only made possible through the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act. Research published by the Australian Research Council funded <a href="https://www.arc.gov.au/2020-arc-centre-excellence-children-and-families-over-life-course">Life Course</a> Centre of Excellence found its introduction was correlated with negative impacts on children, including reductions in <a href="https://www.lifecoursecentre.org.au/research/journal-articles/working-paper-series/do-welfare-restrictions-improve-child-health-estimating-the-causal-impact-of-income-management-in-the-northern-territory/">birth weight</a> and <a href="https://www.lifecoursecentre.org.au/research/journal-articles/working-paper-series/the-effect-of-quarantining-welfare-on-school-attendance-in-indigenous-communities/">school attendance</a>. It points to several possible explanations, including increased stress on mothers, disrupted financial arrangements within households, and confusion about how to access funds. The government has not addressed these serious issues. Instead, it now seeks to place those who have been left on the basics card for over ten years now, on to the cashless debit card. What was ‘Basics’ has become ‘Indue’ <img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/167621/original/file-20170503-4096-12pb3xf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" alt="" /> The 2016 Indue Cashless Debit Card. indue.com.au The “Indue” Cashless Debit Card trials underway since 2016 direct 80% of each payment to the card (<a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/Forrest-Review.pdf">Forrest asked for 100%</a>) where it can only be spent on things such as food, clothes, health items and hygiene products. Purchases of alcohol and withdrawals of cash are not permitted. The trials are compulsorily for everyone living in the trial sites receiving a disability, parenting, carer, unemployment or youth allowance payment. My own research in the East Kimberley found it makes those people’s <a href="https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/147866">lives harder</a>. Those targeted are a broad group needing support for a broad range of reasons, yet all are treated as if they have issues with alcohol or drugs or gambling. Most of the people on it do indeed have a common problem: that is trying to survive on meagre payments in remote environments with a chronically low supply of jobs. Of all the claims made for the card, the least believable is that it gets its users into jobs. What it does do is limit access to cash needed for day to day-to-day living. It makes it hard to buy second-hand goods, transport and (at some outlets) food, and can make living more expensive. For anyone actually struggling with addiction, it can’t substitute for treatment, a concern raised by medical specialists. While the government says the trials have been community-led, in reality consultation has been limited to a small group of people not subject to the card. When leaders in the East Kimberley who had agreed to the card <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/23/aboriginal-leader-withdraws-support-for-cashless-welfare-card-and-says-he-feels-used">withdrew their support</a>, the government continued with the trial. Its success has not been established In addition to relaying on anecdotes, the government continues to cite a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/18/cashless-welfare-card-report-does-not-support-ministers-claims-researcher-says">widely condemned report</a> by <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-department/feature/cashless-debit-card-trial-evaluation-final-evaluation-report">Orima Research</a>. Among others, the Australian National Audit Office <a href="https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/implementation-and-performance-cashless-debit-card-trial">found this report was inadequate</a> to draw any conclusions from. Profiting from the Cashless Debit Card has been <a href="https://www2.indue.com.au/">Indue</a>, a private company whose <a href="https://nationals.org.au/our-team/federal-management-committee/">deputy chairman</a> up until 2013 is now the present President of the National Party, Larry Anthony. Indue’s involvement is helping to create a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285590411_Is_the_Cashless_Welfare_Card_the_forerunner_to_a_Banking_Underclass">two tiered banking system</a> in which most people have a choice of financial providers, but those subject to the card are restricted to one, which provides a very different product to the others. Indue is also not a member of the Australian Banking Association, and so is not bound by the consumer protection provisions of its <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-banking-code-looks-impressive-but-what-will-it-achieve-120582">Banking Code of Practice</a>. The inquiry is due to report <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/CashlessCardTransition">next week</a>. Given the expensive and harmful consequences of the trial, it ought to find the extension is not justified. There are better ways to spend $128.8 million that would actually help vulnerable Australians.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123763/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Written by Elise Klein (OAM), Senior Lecturer in Development Studies, University of Melbourne. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/theres-mounting-evidence-against-cashless-debit-cards-but-the-government-is-ploughing-on-regardless-123763" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

Retirement Income

5 charts that show what a Newstart recipient looks like

The Newstart unemployment benefit is all over the news. It’s the subject of a <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Newstartrelatedpayments">Senate inquiry</a>. Today it will take evidence in <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/Newstartrelatedpayments/Public_Hearings">Elizabeth</a>, in what used to be Adelaide’s industrial north. Should it <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/oct/07/accounting-giant-kpmg-calls-for-newstart-to-increase-by-100-a-week">be higher</a>? Should recipients be paid with a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-eyes-long-term-cashless-debit-card-roll-out-20190907-p52oxb.html">cashless card</a>? Or <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-government-to-revive-plans-to-drug-test-dole-recipients-20190905-p52odq.html">drug tested</a>? Or <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/peter-dutton-suggests-cancelling-welfare-of-climate-protesters/11572370">stripped of their payments if they join climate protests</a>? To make sense of these proposals it helps to know something about who receives Newstart payments. It’s a picture many of us get wrong. Here’s a heads-up. They are not particularly likely to be young, they are are not especially likely to be men, and more live in regional areas than we might expect. Here are some facts to give us something to work with, set out in five charts: Likely to be middle aged First, Newstart recipients are a lot older than you might think. Half are over 45. Partly this is because unemployed people aged 24 or younger are more likely to be getting <a href="https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/youth-allowance-job-seekers">Youth Allowance</a>. But even if we include unemployed Youth Allowance recipients in the figure, an outsized 45% of all unemployment benefit recipients are over 45. One quarter are over 55. Women on Newstart are older still: 51% of female job-seekers are over 40, compared with 42% of male job-seekers. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299170/original/file-20191029-183103-ofhmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299170/original/file-20191029-183103-ofhmt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Youth Allowance (other) excludes student and apprentice youth allowance. DSS Payment Demographics, March 2019 They are older on average than five years ago. Over the five years to March 2019, the number of people on Newstart aged over 45 swelled by one fifth, and the number over 55 by two fifths. At the same time the number under 45 fell by 16%. The increase in the number of older people on Newstart has coincided with a sharp decline in the number of older people receiving the Disability Support Pension. <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Budget_Office/Publications/Research_reports/Disability_support_pension_Historical_and_projected_trends?CalendarWidgetTarget=20-05-2018&tab=tab2a">Tighter assessment measures</a> since 2012 have led to a decline in the number of people being assessed as eligible for the Disability Support Pension, forcing many declined applicants <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-12/disability-support-pension-applicants-diverted-to-newstart/11486164">on to Newstart</a>. Less likely to live in big cities People from the biggest states are less commonly on Newstart. Someone from Victoria, NSW, or the ACT is about one third less likely to be on Newstart than someone from the rest of the country. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299171/original/file-20191029-183147-1g7h3ba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299171/original/file-20191029-183147-1g7h3ba.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> DSS Payment Demographics, March 2019, ABS 3101.0 Rural areas also have higher proportions of people on Newstart than cities. Someone outside a major city is one and a half times as likely to be on Newstart as someone in a major city. And the difference gets starker the further out you go. Someone in a “remote” or “very remote” area is more than twice as likely to be on Newstart as someone in a major city. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299172/original/file-20191029-183112-1jr36oj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299172/original/file-20191029-183112-1jr36oj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Population at March 2019 is estimated based on ABS data at June 2018. DSS Payment Demographics, March 2019, ABS 3281 Likely to have been on it for a long time Contrary to claims by <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-most-people-on-the-newstart-unemployment-benefit-for-a-short-or-long-time-120826">Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and others</a>, Newstart is not always a transitional payment. It’s true many of the people coming on to Newstart leave it soon after: of those who began receiving Newstart payments in 2017, 63% had come off within 12 months. But a focus on new recipients ignores the bulk of current recipients, who have been on it for much longer. Someone who has recently begun receiving Newstart payments is far more likely to move off them than someone who’s been on them for a longer period. As at March 2019, two thirds had been on it for more than a year. One fifth had been on it for more than five years. A significant 4% had been on it for more than ten years. Older recipients are more likely to have been on it for more than a year, and across all ages, women are more likely than men to have been on Newstart for more than a year. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299173/original/file-20191029-183151-1kqw2e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299173/original/file-20191029-183151-1kqw2e4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Includes Newstart and Youth Allowance (other) recipients classified as ‘job seekers’. At August 2019, job seekers made up 52% of all Newstart and Youth Allowance (other) recipients. <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-department/labour-market-and-related-payments-monthly-profile-publications" class="source">Labour Market and Related Payments Monthly Profile, August 2019</a> Tasmanian and Northern Territory recipients are the most likely to have been on it for more than a year; ACT and Queensland recipients are the least likely. But across all states, a clear majority of recipients have been on it for more than a year. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299174/original/file-20191029-183151-jl7eje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/299174/original/file-20191029-183151-jl7eje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Includes Newstart and Youth Allowance (other) recipients classified as ‘job seekers’. At August 2019, job seekers made up 52% of all Newstart and Youth Allowance (other) recipients. <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/about-the-department/labour-market-and-related-payments-monthly-profile-publications" class="source">Labour Market and Related Payments Monthly Profile, August 2019</a> <hr /> So next time you picture a Newstart recipient, it might be wise to think of a middle aged woman living outside of the city in a smaller state. Unless we keep her in mind, we are likely to make the wrong decisions about the rate, about drug testing, and about everything else.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125937/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/owain-emslie-250445">Owain Emslie</a>, Associate, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168">Grattan Institute</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/danielle-wood-147710">Danielle Wood</a>, Program Director, Budget Policy and Institutional Reform, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/grattan-institute-1168">Grattan Institute</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-charts-on-what-a-newstart-recipient-really-looks-like-125937">original article</a>.

Money & Banking

"An insult": Why welfare recipients condemn cashless card

“This is a bit controversial, we know that,” deputy prime minister Michael McCormick told the <a href="https://www.michaelmccormack.com.au/media-releases/2019/9/16/address-to-the-nationals-federal-council-canberra-14-september-2019">National Party’s federal council</a>, which on the weekend voted for a national roll-out of cashless debit cards for anyone younger than 35 on the dole or receiving parenting payments. The Nationals have joined the chorus within the federal government proclaiming the cards a huge success. The Minister for Families and Social Services, Anne Ruston, has even gone so far as to claim welfare recipients are “<a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6355110/welfare-card-users-full-of-praise-govt/">singing its praises</a>”. Really? Both McCormick and Ruston have proclaimed success based on the most recent trial of cashless welfare in Queensland. This trial began barely six months ago, and the independent evaluation by the <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/future-employment-skills/research#review-of-cashless-debit-card-cdc-trial-in-the-goldfields-region-of-wa">Future of Employment and Skills Research Centre</a> at the University of Adelaide is ongoing. A more complex story emerges out of my research into lived experiences of the first cashless debit card trial, which began in Ceduna, South Australia, <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/families-and-children-programs-services-welfare-quarantining-cashless-debit-card/cashless-debit-card-ceduna-region">in March 2016</a> I spent about three months in the town of Ceduna between mid 2017 and the end of 2018 talking to people <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/weve-lost-our-vision-a-card-cannot-give-vision-to-the-community">about life on the card</a>. All communities are diverse and people’s experiences diverge. Some liked the card, or had come to accept it, others were caught up dealing with far more significant problems. But I talked to people who found the card “an insult”. They told me it made them feel “targeted” and “punished”. They talked of degradation and defiance. They also told me the card didn’t work. As for the the claim by both Ruston (and her ministerial predecessor <a href="https://www.paulfletcher.com.au/portfolio-speeches/speech-to-sydney-institute-welfare-personal-responsibility-and-the-cashless">Paul Fletcher</a>) that the card empowers people to “demonstrate responsibility”, the opposite was true. In the words of June*, an Indigenous grandmother, foster carer and talented artist: “It has taken responsibility away from me. It’s treating me like a little kid again.” Indigenous testing grounds Ceduna, in the far west of South Australia, was the first of four sites chosen to trial cashless debit cards. The second was in the East Kimberley The location of these two trial sites meant early trial participants have been predominately Indigenous. I am of the view that Indigenous communities are being used as testing grounds for new technologies and controversial measures. In the first two trial sites, income support recipients younger than 65 have just 20 per cent of their payment deposited into their bank account. The remaining 80% goes on to their debit card, which cannot be used at any alcohol or gambling outlet across the nation. Nor can they be used to withdraw cash. The lead-grey cashless debit card is similar but different to the lime-green BasicsCard, introduced as part of the 2007 Northern Territory National Emergency Response (the “Intervention”). The use of the BasicsCard as an “income management” tool was extended to non-Indigenous people in the Northern Territory in 2010, and to other states in 2012. The BasicsCard generally quarantines 50% of a social security recipient’s income so that it cannot be spent on alcohol, gambling, tobacco or pornography. BasicsCard holders need to shop at approved stores. In contrast, the cashless debit card, administered by financial services company <a href="https://www2.indue.com.au/">Indue</a>, can theoretically be used wherever there are Eftpos facilities. Shame and humiliation My research wasn’t based on collecting statistics but “hanging out” and getting to know people. I came to see the stigma associated with the “grey card” sometimes resonated with past experiences. Robert*, for example, told me about growing up on a mission and then suddenly finding himself as “one little blackfella” in a large high school. He was acutely sensitive to the “smirks” and judgements of others whenever he used the grey card to pay for things. Pete* left high school after a couple of weeks to join an itinerant rural workforce that has since vanished. After decades of manual work, finding himself unemployed due to ill health was devastating enough. Being issued the grey card compounded his humiliation. Others voiced their belief the grey card was designed to induce shame. But they refused that shame, expressing instead a defiant belief in the legitimacy of their need for support. The welfare system often defines people by the one thing they are not currently doing – waged employment. But many people I spent time with in fact laboured constantly: it just wasn’t recognised as work. People like June*, for example, looked after sick kin, the elderly and children. Yet the grey card treated them as dependents. I heard about ways of getting around the card’s restrictions. As one acquaintance put it: “Drunks gonna drink!” One strategy involved exchanging temporary use of the card for cash. With terms that nearly always disadvantage the card holder, it has the potential to make life tougher for people living in hardship. These observations concur with the sober assessments of experts such as the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/cashless-welfare-card-trial-not-working-drug-and-alcohol-centre-says-20190910-p52pv5.html">South Australian Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council</a>. The evaluation of the Ceduna trial for <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/10_2018/cashless-debit-card-trial-final-evaluation-report_2.pdf">the Department of Social Services</a> was more positive, noting that alcohol drinkers and gamblers reported doing so less frequently. But it also noted no reduction in crime statistics related to alcohol consumption, illegal drug use or gambling. And the Australian National Audit office was so critical of the government’s evaluation it <a href="https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/implementation-and-performance-cashless-debit-card-trial">concluded</a> that it was difficult to ascertain “whether there had been a reduction in social harm” as a result of the card’s introduction. Which makes simplistic claims about the card’s success look a bit rich. *Pseudonyms are used throughout.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123352/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> Written by Eve Vincent, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University. Republished with permission of <a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/an-insult-politicians-sing-the-praises-of-the-cashless-welfare-card-but-those-forced-to-use-it-disagree-123352" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.

Retirement Income

Get it moving”: Jacqui Lambie advocates for drug testing of welfare recipients

The Morrison government is after welfare recipients as parliament resumes after the winter break and is advocating for cashless welfare card trials across the country. The government has the backing of key Senate crossbencher Jacqui Lambie in the cash welfare card trials. “I’ve always been a big supporter of the cashless welfare cards — I’ve seen the result that has had,” Senator Lambie told reporters in Canberra, according to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/drug-testing-on-agenda-as-parliament-meets/news-story/18920c2d771f76d22e2436a07941ec35" target="_blank">news.com.au</a>. “I will say this, though, get those algorithms right because quite frankly it’s taking you way too long, get it moving.” The government is also planning to have another try at passing legislation that will trial drug-testing for welfare recipients. Lambie supports this, but is also calling for her fellow MPs to be drug and alcohol tested. “I want to see the politicians up there grow a spine and you don’t go and put something on someone else that you don’t expect to put on yourself,” she said. “If you’ve got nothing to hide up there in that big white house then it’s now your turn to go and do that random drug and alcohol test. What’s wrong with you people, might miss a few wines after 8 o’clock at night, will we? That’ll keep the backbenchers in line.” The drug and alcohol testing idea has been rejected twice by the previous parliament, but Finance Minister Mathias Cormann is defiant it will work. “We want to support and encourage Australians to deal with any barriers they are facing in terms of getting back into the workforce,” Senator Cormann told the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-06/welfare-recipients-drug-testing-new-bill/11483512" target="_blank">ABC</a>. “That is, of course, why we believe that through this drug testing trial, that we should assess whether there’s better ways to channel Australians into treatment.” The Australian Medical Association opposes the trial, believing it will stigmatise people. “It may actually make their chance of getting another job later much harder,” AMA federal councillor Chris Moy said. “The next thing is, there’s actually no evidence from international trials that this actually works.” The Labor party has argued that this policy is divisive. The two-year drug testing trials would be rolled out in three locations, which are Logan in Queensland, Canterbury-Bankstown in NSW and Mandurah in WA.

Retirement Income

The controversial new way to access welfare benefits

A new controversial myGOV ID pilot program will ask Aussies to access their welfare benefits, pension, Medicare, childcare subsidies and pay tax using a face scan. According to the <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/big-brother-is-here-as-the-government-links-your-face-scan-to-tax-health-and-welfare-benefits/news-story/f2868e2bf7c4830e99de0149468d2da2" target="_blank">Daily Telegraph</a>, the trial will be rolled out in October and will require the biometric data of users. Similar to how SmartGates works at airports to check passports, this new technology will allow someone to take a photo on a computer or phone to create a myGov ID. The photo will then be analysed and checked against passports and driver’s licences. The technology will help Australians who struggle to remember different passwords for various government services, but privacy experts are worried the information could be misused. “I would say the real concern is whether if this information leaks it could be used by somebody nasty to open a bank account or get access to your health records,” says Dr Vanessa Teague from Melbourne University’s School of Computing and Information systems. Australian Privacy Foundation’s Bernard Robertson-Dunn said people need to be reassured the government “doesn’t use the technology to do things it didn’t say it was going to do.” In May, Human Services Minister Michael Keenan said the misuse of data which could be used to “impinge on people’s privacy” was a concern for many Australians. The new ID will be voluntary, but the government will use nudge tactics to encourage people to comply. Those who do not want to supply their biometric information to access government services, will have to go to Centrelink offices and speak to someone in person. This new system follows various personal data breaches overseas, including the Cambridge Analytica scandal where Facebook failed to protect the privacy of more than 87 million users. “The problem with using biometrics is you can replace a stolen password but you can’t replace your biometrics if they are stolen,” says chair of the Privacy Foundation’s health committee Dr Bernard Robertson-Dunn. Dr Robertson-Dunn said the government also needs to have measures in place to deal with situations where a person’s face may be altered due to medical illness or an accident. The Australian government said it will protect people’s privacy by using “double-blind” architecture. A person’s biometric data will not be stored centrally and the Australian Taxation Office which will be the identity provider won’t know which services users are accessing. “Once an identity is verified, only the essential information will be retained, the rest will be discarded. This minimises security threats and limits ‘function creep’ (widening of the use of a system beyond the purpose for which it was originally intended),” the government claimed in documents outlining how the new technology will work. “Under our digital identity solution, citizens will only need to establish their identity once, and can then use it multiple times to access multiple government services,” Mr Keenan said. What are your thoughts on this new technology? Let us know in the comments below.

Money & Banking

Centrelink crackdown to hit welfare recipients hard

A Centrelink crackdown is set to hit welfare recipients hard, with the Federal Government flagging its intention to go after the 170,000 Australians with welfare debts. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/" target="_blank">ABC reports</a> the government is threatening to charge interest on funds owed, which has spiralled into debts totalling more than $900 million nationally. "Some of these debts go back up to 15 years," Human Services Minister Michael Keenan said. The Federal Government has not charged interest on these sort of debts before, but Mr Keenan believes it has been far too lenient in the past. "People just haven't made any effort to repay it, and the Commonwealth has continued to engage with people, reminding them to repay it," Mr Keenan said. "There's all sorts of ways that we can escalate that, including sending our debt collectors." <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/" target="_blank">ABC reports</a> the Department of Human Services has started to get in touch with people with outstanding debts, telling them they have a month to commit to a repayment plan otherwise they risk being slugged interest charges. "If people are deliberately defrauding us, then we will make referrals of that to the police, and they will look at it in conjunction with the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions," Mr Keenan said. What are your thoughts? Think this is fair?

Retirement Income

“Torture device”: Derryn Hinch says vaginal mesh recipients were “kept in the dark”

Victorian Senator Derryn Hinch has made a passionate plea at the senate inquiry into the use of vaginal mesh to treat urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, which has left thousands of women with life-changing physical damage and pain. After the senate committee made the recommendation that vaginal mesh only be used as a last resort and only with fully informed consent, tabling a report with 13 suggested changes to its use, senators from all sides of politics agreed that such a devastating medical scandal can never happen again. “Many women who have had transvaginal mesh implants have had devastating complications resulting in ongoing emotional trauma, embarrassment, shame, depression, debilitating pain, recurring infection and a poor quality of life,” Greens senator and committee chair, Rachel Siewert, said. Senator Hinch said the committee had heard from many women who felt they had been let down by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. “Having first been told there’s only a one per cent chance of an adverse reaction, they have since been treated like mushrooms,” the Human Headline said. “Kept in the dark and fed bulls*** by doctors, hospital administrators, the drug companies and sadly even the TGA.” He described the tragedy as “the biggest medical scandal for Australian women since thalidomide in the 1950s and 1960s, when kids were born without arms and legs.” Senator Hinch said people affected by this “torture device” deserve justice. “This should never have happened. We need to fix it. We need to be providing support for these women.”

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Get it moving”: Jacqui Lambie advocates for drug testing of welfare recipients

The controversial new way to access welfare benefits

Centrelink crackdown to hit welfare recipients hard

“Torture device”: Derryn Hinch says vaginal mesh recipients were “kept in the dark”

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