THIS week, the Senate has the opportunity to pass legislation in the best interests of Australia's most vulnerable children, by helping families up and out of entrenched welfare dependency.

The federal government's reforms aim to restore independence and dignity to people's lives and to instil in their children the expectation that life has more to offer them than the next welfare cheque.

Welfare should not be a destination or a way of life. We will use every measure we can to protect children who are caught up in a cycle of abuse and neglect. Of course, we know that the majority of parents want the very best for their children. When times get tough it will always be the government's responsibility to help with financial support; on the other side of the equation we must encourage and foster personal responsibility.

I know there are strongly held views about these reforms but at their core they are about human dignity. The dignity of being a responsible parent, seeing your children go to school each day with no limits to their aspirations. The dignity of earning a pay cheque, of learning the skills to get a job.

The government's reforms include first extending a new, non-discriminatory income management system across the Northern Territory. Following an evaluation at the end of next year, it will be extended nationally to other disadvantaged regions.

Already in the Northern Territory, in the suburbs of Perth, in the Kimberley and on Cape York different models of income management are being used to stabilise family finances and to establish a secure platform for people to take back responsibility for their lives.
 
While the decision this week will be confined to the Senate chamber, it has the capacity to bring order and dignity to the lives of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged Australians, indigenous and non-indigenous.

Like the group of women I met last year in a remote Northern Territory community who told me how decades of alcohol and welfare dependency had all but destroyed social norms.

These young mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers urged me not to withdraw income management. They said it was one of the few tools they had to withstand harassment and humbugging. It gave them control of their own money and, through this, greater control of their lives.

For people in Aurukun on Cape York, Noel Pearson's community-driven, welfare reforms implemented through the Family Responsibilities Commission are driving positive change.

One local woman tells of how income management, along with community support services, has saved her from alcohol-induced chaos. Now she has a job, her four children are well cared for and she's planning a future where she has a house of her own.

In the Northern Territory we estimate 20,000 indigenous and non-indigenous Australians including people living in the suburbs of Darwin, in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine, will benefit from the stability and structure which income management brings.

Already there are 17,000 people being income-managed as part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response. When we came to government there were only 1400.

Under our reforms, income management will apply to young and the long-term unemployed, parents on income support referred by child protection authorities and people assessed as vulnerable by Centrelink social workers. Age and disability pensioners will not be automatically income-managed.

The legislation provides for case-by-case income management of vulnerable people identified by Centrelink social workers to protect them from pressure or if recommended by child protection workers.

There will be incentives for exemption for the young and long-term unemployed who study or work, as well as for parents who demonstrate responsibility for their children like getting them to school.

Financial counselling and money management services will also be provided to help people manage their finances as well as a matched savings incentive to encourage
people on compulsory income management to save.

People who voluntarily sign up for income management will also be offered an incentive payment to remain in the scheme.

In addition to welfare reform, our legislation reinstates the Racial Discrimination Act, so that the Northern Territory Emergency Response can move into a sustainable development phase and so indigenous people can be partners in driving change.

The passage of this legislation will remove what has been a blight on Australia's reputation as the land of a fair go. If the legislation does not pass, the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act continues. A vote against the bill is a vote for the status quo.

Genuine, long-term change is only possible when people have the means and opportunity to take responsibility for themselves and their families.

And when the government meets its responsibility to do all it can to help the most vulnerable and powerless break the cycle of welfare dependency.

Jenny Macklin is Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
 
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This article was first published by The Australianonline on 21 June 2010.

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