Turnbull Government announces crackdown on welfare ‘cheats’
THE Turnbull Government is announcing tougher measures targeting welfare recipients who ‘game the system’ by turning up to Centrelink appointments just to get paid.
National
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WELFARE recipients “gaming the system” by missing Centrelink appointments then turning up at the last possible minute to get paid will be the new targets of an ongoing Turnbull Government crackdown on social services compliance.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash and Human Services Minister Alan Tudge are set to announce measures to prevent Centrelink clients exploiting the system despite regularly missing appointments today.
New figures obtained by The Australian show 7006 jobseekers last year missed their Centrelink appointments and re-engaged at the very end of each fortnight, to stop their welfare payments being cut off.
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A further 16,492 jobseekers were identified as having “unusual” behaviour in attending Centrelink appointments, while 3415 people re-engaged with Centrelink every 56 days to avoid having payments cut off.
More than 800 of those repeated the behaviour more than six times, meaning they were repeatedly suspended and then backpaid without consequence.
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Senator Cash told The Australian that the welfare system was there to provide a safety net and “not to fund a lifestyle choice”.
“The Coalition continues to look at ways in which to strengthen the system so that community expectations are met and to ensure that those that can work, do work.”
Mr Tudge said while most jobseekers did the right thing, the crackdown was targeting a persistent group of “capable people” who were “gaming the system”.
“We need to close these loopholes so that jobseekers can’t get around their obligations,” he told The Australian.
“It is in their interests as much as the community’s for them to get back to work as quickly as possible, because the longer a person is on welfare, the steeper the road back to employment.
“We need a system that recognises that some have serious issues in their life and need assistance. But for those who are gaming the system, we need to introduce stronger, more immediate consequences.”
Originally published as Turnbull Government announces crackdown on welfare ‘cheats’
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