“Income
management quarantines a portion of social security payments, placing
these funds in a special account that can only be used to pay for
essentials such as food and bills, and cannot be used to purchase
alcohol or tobacco. Compulsory income management was first introduced
to Australia - and, indeed, the world - in 2007 as part of the
Northern Territory Emergency Response (‘the intervention’), and
has been through several incarnations in the decade since. A
comparable policy - ‘money management’ - was introduced to New
Zealand in 2012.
While
numerous government evaluations of income management have been
undertaken in Australia, their findings have been inconsistent.
Stakeholders and politicians alike have called for a rigorous and
independent study of the program to better understand its impacts.
To
date, no evaluations - independent or otherwise - have been conducted
into money management in New Zealand.
This
project therefore represents the first large independent study of
compulsory income management in Australia and New Zealand. It
investigates how income management has developed as a policy, how it
is being implemented by service providers, and how it affects the
lives, choices and autonomy of benefit recipients.
A
key aim of this study is understand the lived experiences of those
who are subject to compulsory income management, and feed these
findings back to policymakers.” [About
The Study,
February 2020]
COMPULSORY
INCOME MANAGEMENT ‘DISABLING, NOT ENABLING’, STUDY SHOWS
Restricting
where and on what social security payments can be spent does more
harm than good, according to the first large, independent study into
Compulsory Income Management (CIM) policies in Australia.
The
University of Queensland’s Professor Greg Marston said the majority
of participants using the BasicsCard or Cashless Debit Card reported
practical difficulties making purchases and paying bills, which
introduced new instability into their lives.
“Income
management proponents say it can stabilise recipients’ lives and
finances, and our study found some people have experienced these
benefits,” Professor Marston said.
“However
many more people have faced additional financial challenges because
of the policies.
“Many
also found their expenses had increased as they were blocked from
participating in the cash economy and burdened with new fees and
charges.”
The
study team said CIM had often been framed as an intervention to
strengthen benefit recipients’ independence, build responsibility
and help transition people away from “welfare dependency” and
into work.
Professor
Marston said previous evaluations had raised significant concerns
about the capacity of income management policies to meet their stated
objectives, yet income management continued to be expanded.
“There
have been recent moves to extend the Cashless Debit Card across the
Northern Territory, but our findings show that CIM has in fact
weakened many participants’ financial capabilities and autonomy,”
he said.
“To
manage their finances, many participants have become reliant on
family members, service providers or automatic payment systems.”
Researcher
Dr Michelle Peterie said the study was unique for its focus on
individuals’ and communities’ experiences with the Cashless Debit
Card and BasicsCard.
“These
voices have frequently been lost or ignored in the policy debate,”
she said.
Dr
Peterie said the research showed a voluntary, opt-in form of income
management could have a place, however the social, emotional and
economic costs of continuing with a compulsory, widespread system
outweighed the benefits.
“The
overwhelming finding is that compulsory income management is having a
disabling rather than enabling affect on the lives of many social
security recipients,” Dr Peterie said.
“This
was true across all of our research sites.”
Professor
Marston said a policy approach that focused on providing employment
and training opportunities and ensuring accessible social services
and affordable housing would be a better starting point for creating
healthy, economically secure and socially inclusive communities.
The
research involved 114 in-depth interviews, conducted at four trial
sites (Playford, Shepparton, Ceduna and Hinkler), and a mixed-methods
survey of 199 people at income management sites across Australia.
ENDS
Full
study can be accessed at
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bff47d1da02bc49ad4e890b/t/5e54c6934eb2985cbbf830a5/1582614180484/Hidden+Costs+Report+-+FINAL.pdf
 |
| Image: The Conversation, 26 February 2020 |
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