Phil O'Reilly: Former Welfare Expert Advisory Group member on benefit changes for families under one roof

There are questions over how the Government will tackle the benefit serving multiple family members under one roof. 

From November next year, parents who earn more than $65,500 must support their 18 and 19-year-olds, rather than them going on the benefit - with a few exceptions.

Former Welfare Expert Advisory Group member, Phil O'Reilly told Ryan Bridge those on $65,000, tend to be on some sort of benefit themselves. 

He says there'll be a complex interplay at the lower end, of how much Government support the parent and young person will get.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Govenments tracking down on youth beneficiaries. It's brought forward changes

(00:03):
that mean from next November, eighteen to nineteen year olds
won't get the dole if their parents earn more than
sixty five thousand dollars. There's also a new one thousand
dollar bonus if they stay off the benefit for a
year through the Community Job Service. Fellow Raleigh former Welfare
Expert Welfare Advisory Expert Group member joins me.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Now, hi, Phil, morning Ron.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Why do you think they've brought it forward.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Or probably to demonstrate to the electorate coming into a
title election that they're under control on this. I suspect
also the budgetary situation is driving them of it, and
I think they want a demonstrate action. So that's politics bloit.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Does it work?

Speaker 2 (00:44):
I think the carrot and stick approach is a good
idea and certainly I think the public will support the
idea that if you're sitting with your parents and they're
earning some money, you shouldn't be you shouldn't be taking
money from the state, You should primarily focus on that
parental support. And I think that's probably sent and hopefully
it will lead to more young people getting a job.
The carrot. At the end of it. The thousand bucks

(01:05):
are for a year that was announced yesterday. Once again,
I think in principle that's a good idea, although I
suspect the scheme design may not actually be quite as
helpful as it otherwise might be. The international evidence around
this is that if you've been in a job for
about six months, you tend to be sticky in that job.
That's the international evidence. So you probably would have structured
a payment if I was the minister at about six

(01:26):
months rather than twelve, because just put yourself in the
feet of that young person, a year is a long
time that the young person's life. Although clearly a thousand
bucks is are fair but a money for a young
person as well. So the question is whether it will
actually work that, whether the year is too long for
that quite big character play out. Maybe six months would
have been better, but you know, that's just a scheme
design issue, and we'll see how it practically works out.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Currently, fifteen thy eighteen to nineteen year olds on the
doll do we know how many of them have parents
earning less than sixty five thousand dollars a year? I
guess it's the question, Well.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
It'll just be probably a faction a function of the population,
if you like. But bear in mind those people on
sixty five grand or that lower end of the spectrum
will often tend to be on government support themselves. They
might be on a family benefit, they might be on
some sort of hardship allowance already, so that there will
be a complex interplayer that will let that lower end

(02:20):
of how much government support both the parents will get
or the sole parent potentially and the young person will get.
So you know, that's all to be played out. I
think we.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Appreciate your time this morning. We've got I rany Form,
a Welfare Expert Advisory Group member.

Speaker 2 (02:33):
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