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Perth Now
5 days ago
- Business
- Perth Now
Labor's debt bombshell after court ruling
Debt recovery for overpaid welfare checks is set to resume following a landmark Federal Court ruling, but Labor is reportedly considering a bombshell debt forgiveness measure that would stop the collection. The Federal Court handed down its decision on Tuesday that the method the government had been using since 2020 to calculate and collect debt was valid. The Department of Social Services (DSS) had paused debt repatriation for social security employment checks received before 2020 as it awaited the key court judgment, but the department secretary Michael Lye said the court decision affirmed his 'legal position' and assessment activities would resume. 'Now there is certainty to the legal position, assessment activities will recommence in line with the court's decision and my obligations as secretary,' Mr Lye said. The department could now reassess the debt of up to 160,000 people as far back as 1979, reportedly worth $1.1bn. But the Australian Financial Review reported that government officials were aware that Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek was considering options on the overpayments, going as far as to forgive the debts. Tanya Plibersek is reportedly considering forgiving decades-old welfare debts. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Greens questioning in senate estimates earlier this year revealed that Services Australia was chasing billions of dollars in decades-old debt. Data showed that up to $4.9bn in unpaid debts were being pursued from more than 829,000 customers. Ms Plibersek did not comment beyond a joint statement released with Katy Gallagher on Tuesday. 'The Albanese Labor government acknowledges the decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court in Matthew Chaplin v Secretary, Department of Social Services,' the statement read. 'Income apportionment is a historical practice which ran from the early 1990s to 2020. It is not used today. It has never been used by the Albanese Labor government. 'Income apportionment was a method used by Centrelink to calculate debts in circumstances where they did not have detailed information about days and hours worked. 'This methodology reduced unreasonable reporting burdens and paperwork on welfare recipients and was a genuine misinterpretation of the law. 'The Chaplin decision has reconfirmed that the process of income apportionment was not lawful. It also confirmed that the process used to calculate debt since 2020 is valid. 'The government will now evaluate its impact and develop a suitable response.' Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne criticised the government for 'aggressively targeting' welfare recipients. NewsWire / Sarah Marshall Credit: News Corp Australia Greens social services spokeswoman Penny Allman-Payne criticised the government for 'aggressively targeting income support recipients with cruel and ridiculous debt notices based on dubious data matching methods'. 'Income support payments are already below the poverty line, meaning thousands of income support recipients are making tough choices between skipping meals or paying the rent,' she said. 'The last thing they need is the government hounding them to disprove a dodgy debt notice, sometimes from decades ago. 'The Greens will be urging Labor to act to protect welfare recipients and finally put the Robodebt era behind us.'
The Guardian
20-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Australia news live: ACCC plan to tackle supermarket gouging; Greens call for workplace racial equality agency
Greens call for workplace racial equality agency Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Sarah Basford Canales Greens urging Albanese government to lift income supports above poverty line The Greens are urging the Albanese government to lift income support payments in next week's federal budget, adding it is the last opportunity before Australians go to the polls to 'to turn [Labor's] platitudes into meaningful action'. The minor party's social services spokesperson, Penny Allman-Payne, wrote to the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, yesterday in a last-minute bid to raise rates above the poverty line. The government's own Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee released its 2025 report earlier this month recommending the jobseeker rate be increased to 90% of the aged pension. As Guardian columnist, Greg Jericho, outlined on Thursday, the current base rate of the age pension is $1,047.10 or $1,144.40 with supplements. If jobseeker was raised to 90% of the base rate, it would cost the government $3.5bn and to raise it to 90% of the total including supplements would cost $5.2bn. Welfare support payments received a minor boost on Thursday after indexation came into effect. Those receiving jobseeker payments over 22 and without children received a $3.10 fortnightly increase to $789.90 while couples on jobseeker will now get $1,149 after a $4.60 increase. Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP The jobseeker base rate was raised by $40 a fortnight in Labor's 2023 federal budget, coming into effect in September that year. Allman-Payne wrote: This budget is your government's last opportunity before the federal election to turn platitudes into meaningful action, by raising the rate of all Centrelink payments to above the poverty line. On behalf of the millions of people in this country who continue to struggle on poverty payments, we implore you to do so. Share Krishani Dhanji The Greens have called to establish a workplace racial equality agency to document experiences of racism in workplaces and improve racial equity. The agency would collect data and public information on indicators such as representation in the workforce and in governing bodies, record instances of racism, and would try to improve equality in hiring practices, pay and workplace training. The minor party says they would put forward almost $100m to support the agency in the medium term and it comes on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The deputy Greens leader, Mehreen Faruqi, says the agency will help 'provide the proactive focus needed to eliminate racism in workplaces': Systemic and entrenched racism in workplaces is not going to go away by itself, it needs concerted effort. As Dutton and the Liberals mirror Trump to ramp up their attacks on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, we must double down on strong action for racial equity to address deep-seated racism. Share Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then my colleague Emily Wind will take you through the day. Australia's rapidly changing relationship with the United States is the subject of two of our top stories this morning. First, former chief of the defence force Chris Barrie has warned that 'the vandals in the White House' are no longer reliable allies and urged the Albanese government to reassess its strategic partnership with the US. At the same time, some of America's biggest tech companies such as Apple, Meta, Google, Amazon and Elon Musk's X have lodged a formal complaint urging the Trump administration to target 'coercive and discriminatory' Australian media laws. Closer to home, meanwhile, the long-awaited competition watchdog's report into the big supermarkets says the retailers raised prices in the cost-of-living crisis to help them become among the most profitable in the world. In a 441-page report released last night, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission made 20 reform recommendations to the federal government, including forcing Coles, Woolworths and Aldi to publish all prices on their websites, and notify shoppers when package size changes in a bid for transparency around 'shrinkflation'. Reaction coming up. Share
The Guardian
17-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Public policy failure': number of public school students in Australia falls to record low
The proportion of students enrolled in public schools has fallen to another record low, new data shows, placing Australia at risk of a 'full blown flight' from the sector. Of the 45,008 students who enrolled at schools in 2024, only 5,419 went to government schools while 39,589 went to the private sector. Overall, some 63.4% of students were enrolled in government schools in 2024, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released on Monday said, representing a drop of 0.6 percentage points since 2023 and six percentage points since 2000. The decline comes amid an increase in independent school enrolments. Over the five years to 2024, independent school enrolments surged 18.5%, while Catholic school enrolments increased by 6.6% and public school enrolments rose by just 1%. The only states where enrolments to government schools grew in 2024 were Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia - all by less than 2%. At the same time, enrolments in independent schools grew by 3.9% nationwide, equivalent to 25,729 more students. Greens spokesperson for schools, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, said every proportional increase in private school enrolments was a 'public policy failure'. 'We shouldn't sugar coat it,' she said. 'We are at risk of a full-blown flight of parents and kids out of a public system that is being left to rot, while money pours into the pockets of the richest private schools.' Secondary school enrolments in government schools increased marginally in 2024, the data showed, by 0.9% or 9,731 more students, while non-government secondary school enrolments grew by 3.3% (25,418 more students). Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email At primary schools, government school enrolments went backwards, declining by 0.3% (4,312 fewer students) while non-government primary enrolments grew by 2% (14,171 more students). The convenor of Save Our Schools, Trevor Cobbold, said decades of 'massive under-funding of public schools', together with 'generous over-funding of private schools by governments', was taking its toll. 'As parents seek education advantage for their children they should carefully consider their choices,' he said. 'Research studies and the latest Pisa results show that private schools do not deliver better results than public schools after adjusting for family background and school composition.' In New South Wales, independent school enrolments grew by a single year record of 8,547 students while government school enrolments fell by 5,511. Independent schools have enrolled almost two-thirds of all the new students in NSW since 2000, and now educate 19.5% of students, up from 13.1% in 2000. Association of Independent Schools NSW chief executive, Margery Evans, said the figures were 'remarkable', attributing much of the growth to low and mid-fee Christian, Islamic and Anglican schools, which cater to low to middle income families in outer Sydney. 'In spite of cost-of-living pressures, families still prefer their children to have an education that reflects their beliefs, values and philosophies,' Evans said. 'The sector's growth may well have been even higher were it not for enrolment caps … demand for places continues to exceed supply.' Independent Schools Australia chief executive officer, Graham Catt, said the figures showed families were prepared to 'make significant sacrifices' for the education they believed was best for their children. Finnish education expert Pasi Sahlberg, now a professor of educational leadership at the University of Melbourne, said Australia had a larger proportion of students in non-government schools than 'most other OECD countries'. Sahlberg said school funding deals were 'necessary, but not sufficient' to improve the status of public education, adding it came alongside rapidly growing homeschooling rates, declining school attendance and weakening student engagement. 'This shift from government schools has promoted growing concentration of socio-educationally disadvantaged students in schools that have already high proportions of disadvantaged students,' he said. 'If this downward trend continues … departments of education should be worried.' The ABS figures also showed the proportion of students staying in school until year 12 increased annually for the first time since 2017, and student-to-teacher ratios fell to a 2006 low of 12.9 students to one teacher. About 79.9% of students stayed at school from year 7 until year 12, up from 79.1% the previous year, but still below a 2017 high of 84.8%. The education minister, Jason Clare, described the figures as 'good news', but said there was 'a lot more to do'. 'We are starting to see things heading in the right direction for the first time in almost a decade,' he said. There were 4.1 million students enrolled in 9,653 schools in 2024, a 1.1% rise on the previous year. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school student enrolments were up 3.7% on the previous year, and made up 6.6% of all school students. Retention rates were 2.7 percentage points less than a decade ago (56.7% in 2024 compared with 59.4% in 2014).
