28th Jun 2013, 1:34 PM – Senate Social Security Amendment (Supporting More Australians into Work) Bill 2013 - Second Reading - Increase Newstart and support single parents

The majority voted against an amendment introduced by Greens Senator Rachel Siewert to the original motion, which means that it was unsuccessful.

The original motion was "that the bill be read a second time", to which Senator Siewert suggested the following amendment:

At the end of the motion, add:

"and the Senate calls on the Government:

(a) to increase Newstart by $50 a week; and

(b) to provide additional financial support to single parents to lift them and their children out of poverty."

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to amend the Social Security Act 1991 to implement several employment assistance initiatives announced by the Government in the 2013–14 Budget. The initiatives are to:

• increase and also index the income test free area for allowance payments;
• extend access to the Pensioner Education Supplement to Newstart Allowance recipients who are principal carers of at least one child and are not members of a couple; and
• extend access to the Pensioner Concession Card for a single parent who loses access to the Card because they: have lost access to Parenting Payment-Single as their youngest child has turned eight years old; and no longer qualify for income support due to earnings from employment.(Read more about these initiatives in the bills digest.)