Rethinking Welfare and Conditionality in Australia

Social Security Research Policy and Practice Network

A workshop organised by the Social Security Research Policy and Practice Network to consider the future of social security in Australia.

Prest Theatre, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Melbourne

The workshop comes in the wake of a series of momentous changes to income supports, social security, and employment services in Australia. These include the introduction of Workforce Australia and points-based activation in July, coupled with the recent end of the Cashless Debit Card program and the announcement of an ongoing Parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s privatised employment services. With contributions from some of Australia’s leading social policy scholars and advocacy organisations working at the coalface of social security reform, the workshop assesses the impacts of recent policy and service delivery reforms on single parents and their children, unemployed workers, and others subject to mutual obligations and conditionality. It also lays out the urgency of continuing reforms to properly recognise and value care in welfare policy and to address the debilitating effects of poverty and stigma on people’s lives. The day is organized into a series of four sessions with extensive opportunities for reflective discussion. The first session addresses the nexus between work, welfare and care featuring:<ul><li>Dr Dina Bowman, Research and Policy Centre, Brotherhood of St Laurence. University of Melbourne</li><li>Prof Greg Marston, University of Queensland</li><li>A/Prof Elise Klein (OAM), Australian National University</li><li>Dr Zoe Staines, University of Queensland.</li></ul>Session 2 addresses stigma in welfare policy and practice, featuring:<ul><li>Dr Katherine Curchin and Dr Aino Suomi, Australia National University</li><li>Dr Shelley Bielefeld, Griffith University </li><li>Dr Sonia Martin, RMIT</li><li>Prof Philip Mendes, Monash University</li></ul>Session 3 features a discussion of ongoing employment services reforms, with input from: 
<ul><li>A/Prof Jo Ingold, Deakin University
</li><li>Dr David O’Halloran, Monash University
</li><li>A/Prof Siobhan O’Sullivan, University of New South Wales
</li><li>Dr Michael McGann, University of Melbourne
</li><li>Dr Simone Casey, Australian Council of Social Services
</li></ul>
Session 4 concludes with a panel discussion on the impacts of conditionality in social security, involving: 
<ul><li>Dr Simone Casey, Australian Council of Social Services
</li><li>Jay Coonan, Anti-Poverty Centre 
</li><li>Jenny Davidson, Council of Single Mothers and their Children
</li><li>Laura Jordan, Social Security Rights Victoria and Economic Justice Australia
</li><li>David Tennant, FamilyCare 
</li></ul>