Targeted welfare safety net

Providing a well-targeted and sustainable safety net for vulnerable people and families

The welfare system must be well targeted to those who need help the most, and continue to provide a sustainable safety net for Australia’s most vulnerable people and families.

More effective health spending

The Government will establish a $1.7 billion Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme to ensure that dental spending is prioritised to those most in need. To fund this new Scheme, savings have been redirected from existing dental programmes that are either underutilised or inefficient.

Affordable reform

The Government remains committed to providing parents with more choice and opportunity to work through the Jobs for Families Child Care package announced at the 2015-16 Budget.

This package will create a simpler, more affordable, accessible and flexible child care system and will see the Government invest more than $40 billion in child care support over the next four years. The new Child Care Subsidy, Community Child Care Fund and the Additional Child Care Subsidy will now commence on 1 July 2018. To fund this child care package, the Government is restructuring Family Tax Benefit payments to provide more targeted assistance to families to encourage workforce participation.

The Government is implementing the rest of the child care package, including the Nanny Pilot Programme.

Ensuring welfare spending is fit for purpose

The Government scrapped the carbon tax on 1 July 2014, so there is no longer a need to continue the compensation for cost of living increases that will now not occur.

Therefore the Government will close carbon tax compensation to new recipients of government welfare benefits. Existing recipients will continue to receive payments. Savings from this measure will be quarantined to offset new social services priorities and to help pay for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

Supporting and encouraging workforce participation

The Government is committed to maintaining a sustainable welfare system by ensuring that those who are able to work are supported and encouraged to do so. Over the next three years, up to 90,000 current Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients will have their DSP eligibility reviewed to assess their capacity to work. Up to 30,000 of the total reviews will include a Disability Medical Assessment as part of the overall review process for those considered to be a high risk of not being eligible for the payment.