Human Services
Assurance of Support — additional funding
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centrelink | 8.5 | - | - | - |
The Government will provide an additional $8.5m in 2005-06 to meet the full costs of Assurance of Support assessments administered by Centrelink under its current delivery model.
Assurance of support seeks to verify support arrangements for migrants in order to protect the integrity of the welfare system. Assurers are required to support the immigrant, if required, for a period of two years from when they first arrive in Australia.
Child Care Tax Rebate — improved service delivery
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centrelink | 3.7 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
The Government will provide $8.4 million over five years, including $1.1 million in 2009-10, to improve service delivery of the Child Care Tax Rebate (the rebate). These arrangements will make the claiming process simpler for families and their tax agents. In addition, the measure will reduce compliance costs for child care providers.
Centrelink will collect the information required by families to claim the rebate and provide it electronically to the Australian Taxation Office. Families will have access to this information electronically through the Family Assistance Office website from 1 July 2006.
Centrelink will also be working with child care providers to improve data exchange, including electronic data transmission.
Further information can be found in the press release of 10 November 2005 issued by the Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer.
Medicare — developing improved claiming arrangements
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Human Services | 0.5 | - | - | - |
The government will provide $0.5 million in 2005-06 to examine options for improving Medicare claiming arrangements. This will include seeking expressions of interest from private sector providers, on a no commitment basis, to enable further development of options.
The decision as to whether to proceed with any changes to existing arrangements will follow an analysis of options identified in the expression of interest process and discussions with key stakeholders to minimise impacts on doctors and patients.
Further information can be found in the press release of 13 October 2005 issued by the Minister for Human Services and the Minister for Health and Ageing.
Smart technologies and services — funding for a business case
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Human Services | 4.0 | - | - | - |
The Government will provide $4.0 million in 2005-06 for the production of a detailed business case for the introduction of smart technologies and services, including smart card-based solutions. The business case will examine business and technological solutions to replace the current Medicare card and potentially facilitate the provision of other social services. The Government will consider the case for introducing a smart card or similar technology on completion of the business case.
Social welfare and health services — information and education
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Human Services | 4.0 | - | - | - |
The Government will provide $4.0 million in 2005-06 to provide information and education about the various social welfare and health programmes available from the Australian Government. Under this measure an initial amount of $1.0 million is earmarked for communications relating to drought relief and associated assistance. This will help ensure that farmers are aware of their entitlements under various drought relief programmes.
Further information can be found in the press release of 5 September 2005 issued jointly by the Minister for Human Services and the Minister for Workforce Participation and the press release of 5 September 2005 issued by Centrelink.
Welfare to Work — Comprehensive Work Capacity Assessments — additional funding
| 2005-06 | 2006-07 | 2007-08 | 2008-09 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department of Human Services | 2.3 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.9 |
The Government will provide an additional $5.6 million over four years to manage Comprehensive Work Capacity Assessments (CWCA) for people with disabilities. The CWCA programme will improve the matching of people to the income support payment and services that best reflect their capacity to work and their need for assistance in seeking work.
The CWCA will provide a holistic assessment of an individual’s work capacity taking into account physical and mental disabilities or injuries, their current skills and any barriers they face in looking for work. This measure supplements the $316.0 million funding provided in the Welfare to Work — Comprehensive Work Capacity Assessments measure in the 2005-06 Budget.
Further information can be found in the speech made to Parliament by the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations titled, Employment and Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Welfare To Work And Other Measures) Bill 2005, Second Reading (www.dewr.gov.au).