ACOSS’ proposed reforms for family payments

ACOSS’ proposed reforms
 

1. Index family payments to wage movements as well as the CPI, by restoring previous benchmarking of maximum rates of family payments to pension rates, which were based on the age of each child.
2. For Part A, consider introducing a ‘middle benchmark’ for children of primary school age (in addition to one for preschoolers and another for those of high school age).
3. Replace Family Tax Benefit Part B for single parent families with a Sole Parent Supplement to provide adequate supplementation for the extra costs of raising a child alone regardless of paid workforce status. This should be set at the level of the current Part B payment for younger child, so that payments to single parent families no longer fall when the youngest child reaches 6 years. This would provide an increase to affected single parent families (many of whom recently experienced payment cuts) of $23 per week and clearly separate this function from that of supporting the main carer of a child to ‘stay at home’.
4. Progressively replace the ‘remaining’ FTB Part B payments in respect of couples with school-age children with higher Family Tax Benefit Part A payments, in a way that minimizes any income losses for families on low incomes. For example, the Part B payment for couples could initially be restricted to those whose youngest child is 12 years or less, and low income families with older children. Any income losses for those affected should be substantially offset by proposed increases in the FTB Part A payment for school age children, and proper indexation for those payments.
5. Retain FTB Part B for couples where one parent cares for a young child ‘at home’.
6. Establish an independent review of the adequacy and indexation of social security payments: The Government should establish an independent payments review commission to review the adequacy of all payments (including pensions, allowances, family payments and supplements) and indexation arrangements on a regular basis (say every 3 to 4 years) with a view to ensuring all households are able to achieve an acceptable standard of living. This body should recommend benchmarks for income required to achieve an adequate standard of living, including for children, based on the best available research.