Media Release - Catholic Social Services Says The Obligation Is Mutual

Catholic Social Services Australia's Executive Director Frank Quinlan, has called for a new approach to the mutual obligation policy which underpins current approaches to welfare payments.

Mr Quinlan said the mutual obligation debate has become increasingly paternalistic, stigmatises people on income support, and removes responsibility from individuals, families and communities.

Mr Quinlan made the comments ahead of the release of Catholic Social Services Australia's discussion paper: The Obligation is Mutual, noting that the community consistently fails in its obligations to its most disadvantaged members.

The paper sets out five guiding principles for income support policies which although grounded in Catholic Social Teaching, will contribute to a dialogue with all people concerned with social well-being and human dignity.

The paper discusses the obligations of both governments and individuals and argues that governments should do more to ensure that the state's responsibilities are met.

"The government's role is to create a framework and provide necessary services and incentives that will enable individuals, families and communities to take responsibility for their own development," Mr Quinlan said.

"The role of governments should be as an enabler rather than an enforcer.

"Governments' obligations extend beyond financial support and must include a commitment to help people develop their full potential," Mr Quinlan said.

Catholic Social Services Australia recommends five steps for better policy:

• Review the adequacy of income support payments
• Clearly separate compliance from assistance
• Replace Work for the Dole
• Provide better support to parents
• Use evidence to inform policy change

The paper examines the principles of mutual obligation which are central to the welfare to work changes in place since July 2006. The principles have also been invoked in the recent interventions in the Northern Territory and new national welfare quarantining measures.

The paper outlines the problems with the current arrangements and briefly explores how policy might be improved.

"The past 20 years have seen significantly greater obligations imposed on people on income support," Mr Quinlan said.

"The obligations now apply to a broader range of allowances and pensions, can apply to entire communities as well as to individuals, and are enforced more harshly.

"And obligations have now been expanded beyond workforce participation to include a more open-ended set of obligations to society - extending even to parenting.

"The current arrangements are punitive and focus on deterring claims for income support rather than helping people to meet their obligations.

"Education (particularly early childhood education), training, the creation of job opportunities, and addressing non vocational barriers are far more effective mechanisms for preventing disadvantage than punitive welfare to work programs.

"People on income support do have obligations to the broader community, but so too does society have obligations to people in need.

"The fundamental problem with the current approach is that it fails to recognise that the obligation is mutual," Mr Quinlan said.

A copy of the paper is available at: http://www.catholicsocialservices.org.au/ 

29 October 2007

CONTACT:  Judith Tokley      02 6285 1366 / 0408 824 306