THE Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs has today published a report on its inquiry into community safety, support services and job opportunities in the Northern Territory.

The report makes several recommendations to the Commonwealth and Northern Territory governments in the wake of the sunsetting of the Stronger Futures Act last year.

Committee Chair Senator Patrick Dodson said, "The committee believed investment in support services and programs is essential to improving socio‑economic outcomes, especially for people living in town camps, remote communities and homelands."

The committee called for locally-led, place-based initiatives to support community development.

"Governments need to listen and acting on what communities say will work best for them," Senator Dodson said.

For more information about this committee and its report, visit the inquiry webpage.

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THE House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs will hold public hearings on Tuesday, February 28 and Wednesday, March 1 as part of its inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.

Chair of the Committee, Peta Murphy MP said, "On Tuesday, we will hear from researchers and state and territory governments about the effectiveness of current online gambling harm minimisation measures, and new approaches that may be necessary to reduce harm.

"We have heard strong evidence calling for further restrictions on gambling advertising, and state and territory governments have suggested they are open to considering further reforms to limit the exposure of children and young people to gambling advertising. Further restrictions on gambling advertising are opposed by broadcasters, such as commercial radio and audio, who will also be appearing on Tuesday," Ms Murphy said.

On Wednesday, the committee will scrutinise the current regulation of simulated gambling and gambling-like activities in interactive games, as well as the effectiveness of current counselling and support services to address online gambling harm.

Ms Murphy said, "There is growing concern in Australia, and internationally, about the increasing accessibility of loot boxes in video games and social casino games on mobile devices and their potential to introduce children and young people to features that resemble gambling.

"The committee will hear from researchers and industry about these games and whether changes to legislation or the classification system are required to reduce the risks of harm to children and young people," she said.

"On Wednesday, the committee will also hear from counselling and support services to learn more about the effectiveness of current gambling services and barriers to seeking help. This evidence will be critical to the committee making practical and informed recommendations to ensure that people are able to access the help they need, when they need it," Ms Murphy said.

Programs for the committee’s upcoming hearings are available on the inquiry website here.

The hearings will be live streamed on the APH website: www.aph.gov.au/live.

Public hearing details

Date: Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Time: 8:30am to 4:10pm AEDT
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

Date: Wednesday, 1 March 2023
Time: 8:30am to 4:10pm AEDT
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House, Canberra

Further information about the inquiry, including published submissions, hearing dates and transcripts, are available on the inquiry webpage.

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THE Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services today tabled its interim report into ParentsNext, and recommended that the controversial program be abolished.

Committee Chair, Julian Hill MP, said, “It is clear that ParentsNext is not the flexible, compassionate, supportive service that is needed. It has become too damaged and should be replaced with a supportive service to help vulnerable parents.

“Governments have a responsibility to support parents to achieve full economic and social participation. This is a moral imperative and an economic priority.

“Parents have a right to choose to actively parent their babies and very young children, and this right should not be available only to wealthy parents. Caring for young children is work which used to be valued in its own right, and a mandatory focus on preparing parents of very young children for future employment is a very patriarchal view of caring and doesn’t take account of enormous diversity in the needs of families and children.

“The committee recommends sweeping changes to ParentsNext before it is abolished to allow a new pre-vocational service to be designed and put in place. These include the removal of Parenting Payment cancellations, full payment suspensions and onerous participation and reporting requirements.

“Major changes are also proposed to the way a future service is delivered, including reducing competition between providers and having a public sector agency — probably Services Australia — deliver the service in at least a few regions.

“We thank the inspiring parents and workers who spoke up for their time and, at times raw, honesty. Those conversations directly inform our report and will stay with us as we continue our work.”

The committee’s unanimous report makes 30 recommendations. Key recommendations include that ParentsNext be abolished at the end of its current contract and replaced with a pre-vocational service focused on building participants’ capacity and helping them realise their individual goals, and which truly values parenting. The service must be co-designed with people who will be most impacted by the new service.

Most of the committee’s other recommendations relate to design and implementation of the new service, including draft eligibility and participation requirements, compliance and enforcement; commissioning and service delivery; funding and resources; skills and training requirements; and supporting innovation, experimentation, and robust, data-driven evaluation.

To allow for the co-design and implementation of the new service, short contract extensions will be required. In the meantime, the committee has called for a transition plan to be released by the government by this July, outlining changes that can be implemented as soon as possible, to address serious concerns identified and provide ParentsNext participants with a more positive and supportive experience before the new service is in place.

Some of the themes and issues covered in this interim report, such as skills and training for frontline staff, and the role of government in service delivery, will also be examined as part of the committee’s broader in inquiry into Workforce Australia Employment Services.

Information about the inquiry, including the interim report, Terms of Reference, future public hearings, published submissions and hearing transcripts, is available on the inquiry website.

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Treaties will hold a public hearing today into the International Labour Organization Convention concerning the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work (No. 190).

Committee Chair, Josh Wilson MP said, “The Convention is the first international agreement to address the pervasive problem of violence and harassment in the world of work, including gender-based violence and harassment.”

The scope of the Convention is broad, extending beyond traditional workers and covering persons regardless of their contractual status, working arrangements, or the type of violence and harassment to which they may be subject. The Convention requires the adoption of an ‘inclusive, integrated and gender-responsive approach’ to preventing and eliminating violence and harassment in the world of work, which binds the individual elements of the Convention together.

“The Australian Government advises that Australia’s law, policy, and practice is already consistent with the Convention’s obligations, but in keeping with its accountability function the committee will examine this and other issues during the public hearing,” Mr Wilson said.

Public hearing details

Date: Monday, 27 February 2023
Time: 1.45pm – 4pm AEDT
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House

The hearing can be accessed online and the program for this hearing is available on the Committee website, along with further information about the inquiries.

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On Tuesday, March 2, the Trade Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will hold its first public hearing for its inquiry into Australia’s tourism and international education sectors.

Chair of the Trade Subcommittee, Senator Deborah O’Neill said, "Australia’s international education and tourism sectors have experienced many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when Australia’s borders closed."

The Subcommittee will hear evidence from higher education institutions, peak bodies, regulatory bodies, and international students to gain an understanding of the challenges and opportunities for growth in each sector.

"Noting that Australia has since opened its borders, the Subcommittee is interested to hear about how both sectors are recovering and rebuilding. The inquiry will assist the Subcommittee to understand different experiences and views and it is hoped it will provide greater insight into how the Australian Government can support these sectors as they recover from the effects of COVID-19 border closures," Senator O’Neill said.

Further information about the inquiry and the public hearings program are available on the inquiry webpage.

Public hearings details

Sydney
Date: Thursday, 2 March 2023
Venue: Room 3, Level 8, Building 8 (UTS Business School: 14 - 28 Ultimo Road, Ultimo, Sydney)
Time: 8:40am – 2:30pm (AEDT)

The hearing will also be live streamed on the APH website: aph.gov.au/live.

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THE Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has today tabled its Annual Report of Committee Activities 2021-2022. The report covers the financial year from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022.

Over the review period the committee undertook a significant volume of work across 21 inquiries and presented 17 reports on a range of complex national security matters. The Committee’s work included scrutiny of bills before Parliament, statutory reviews of legislation, two administration and expenditure reviews of the intelligence agencies, reviews of terrorist listings, and two policy inquiries.

The committee’s activities for the review period ceased in April 2022 with the end of the 46th Parliament.

Chair of the committee, Peter Khalil MP, said, "Effective parliamentary oversight of the intelligence community, undertaken by the PJCIS, is a crucial part of Australia’s democratic infrastructure.

"I acknowledge the work of the Committee in the 46th Parliament, which managed a high workload in a diligent and bipartisan manner, to fulfil the important oversight and inquiry functions of the committee.

"I look forward to reporting on the work of the Committee in the 47th Parliament in due course."

Further information on the functions and role of the committee as well as a copy of the report can be obtained from the Committee’s website.

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SUPERANNUATION tax concessions must be reformed to reduce inequality and ensure government assistance is targeted to those who need it the most, according to the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS). 

With one in eight people in Australia living in poverty and the cost of living crisis continuing to bite, the Federal Government is right to scrutinise unaffordable, unfair tax breaks for the wealthiest in our society, ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie said. 

She said superannuation concessions "cost the community an eye-watering $52 billion a year -- money that could be used to reduce poverty and fund essential public services such as health and aged care".

Ms Goldie welcomed the Treasurer’s move to legislate an objective for superannuation to make sure the system is equitable and sustainable.

“The Treasurer is absolutely right to be concerned about the ballooning cost and inequity of tax breaks for superannuation, which do not benefit people on the lowest incomes,” she said.

“The system has become a tax avoidance scheme that allows people who are already very well off, who are mostly men, to build up huge balances that are more than enough for a decent retirement and often passed on to adult children.

“Today at the Senate Inquiry into poverty, I urged the government to do more to assist the millions of people who are struggling to afford the essentials of life such as rent, food, energy and medicines.

“To provide a fair and inclusive society we must make the right choices about who needs more government help and who needs less. Scrutinising unfair super tax breaks is a useful place to start.”

ACOSS presented what it called 'key facts' at the hearing that summed up the situation today:

• Superannuation tax concessions cost the Budget $52 billion a year, almost the cost of the Age Pension ($55 billion);

• Most of the benefit of superannuation tax breaks goes to the highest 20 percent of people by income; and

• Once a fund member retires, the investment income of their account is completely tax free. This is not sustainable when governments are already struggling with the costs of quality health and aged care.

www.acoss.org.au

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THE Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security heard evidence yesterday from a range of expert witnesses for the Review of the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme Act 2018.

The committee heard from a range of witnesses, including former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull AC, Katherine Mansted from the ANU Security College, Alex Joske, and Australian universities and higher education representative bodies. The committee also heard from key government agencies: ASIO, the Department of Home Affairs and the Attorney-General’s Department.

“The Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme (FITS) is the first pillar of sunlight in Australia’s framework for countering foreign interference," PJCIS Chair Peter Khalil MP said.

"The FITS allows for public scrutiny of legitimate influence activities that foreign governments or entities might be conducting in Australia, or through the activities of Australians. 

“The committee has received mixed evidence regarding the operation, effectiveness and implications of the scheme since it commenced in 2018. This public hearing [allowed] the PJCIS to hear from affected entities, as well as expert witnesses regarding the grey area that exists between foreign influence and foreign interference, and whether the FITS is operating as the transparency spotlight it is intended to be.

"The committee will then test that evidence with the Attorney-General’s Department as the Department that administers the FITS.” Mr Khalil said.

Further information on the review and the FITS Act can be obtained from the Committee’s website.

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