10th Nov 2020, 1:14 PM – Senate Economic Recovery Package (Jobmaker Hiring Credit) Amendment Bill 2020 - in Committee - Age discrimination

The majority voted against a request for an amendment introduced by South Australian Senator Rex Patrick (Independent), which means it failed.

What does the amendment do?

Senator Patrick explained that:

For the benefit of the chamber, what this amendment seeks to do is to deal with a discriminatory aspect of the bill as it currently stands in conjunction with the rules. The JobMaker scheme will permit a payment of $200 for new employees that are within the age bracket 16 to 29, scaling down to $100 per week for employees that are in the age bracket of 30 to 35.

Last week at the committee that was examining this bill, I tabled some Seek advertisements. Those advertisements were for jobs, and those advertisements had the words in them, 'In order to apply for this job you must be eligible for JobMaker.' In effect, what that was saying was if you are 36 or 37 or 38 or anywhere above 35 you need not apply for this job. That is discriminatory. We have a lot of mature workers in our community who add value and who are also struggling to get jobs as a result of what's happened with COVID-19. This bill offers no help to employers to employ them, so, by its very nature, it operates as an incentive to exclude them, to discriminate against them.

Amendment request text

That the House of Representatives be requested to make the following amendment:

(1) Schedule 1, page 3 (after line 24), after item 3, insert:

3A After section 7

Insert:

7A Requirements for rules that provide for jobmaker hiring credit scheme

(1) This section applies if rules are made for the purpose of subsection 7(1A) that provide for a kind of payment known as the jobmaker hiring credit.

(2) The rules must not:

(a) include eligibility requirements that place an upper age limit on individuals to receive the jobmaker hiring credit; or

(b) have the effect of excluding individuals aged 35 years or over from the jobmaker hiring credit scheme; or

(c) provide for a jobmaker hiring credit payment of less than $100 for individuals aged 35 years or over.

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Statement pursuant to the order of the Senate of 26 June 2000

Amendment (1)

Amendment (1) is framed as a request because it amends the bill in a way that is intended to direct funding under the jobmaker hiring credit scheme to additional individuals.

The amendment would restrict the Treasurer’s ability to make rules to exclude individuals over a certain age from the jobmaker hiring credit scheme. Specifically, the effect of the amendment would be to include individuals aged 35 years or over as eligible additional employees when assessing an entity’s eligibility for payments from the Commonwealth under the rules.

As this would increase the number of employees for whom employers would be eligible to receive payments, the amendment will increase the amount of expenditure under the standing appropriation in section 16 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953.

Statement by the Clerk of the Senate pursuant to the order of the Senate of 26 June 2000

Amendment (1)

If the effect of the amendment is to increase expenditure under the standing appropriation in section 16 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 then it is in accordance with the precedents of the Senate that the amendment be moved as a request.