[Greens-Media] Human Rights Commission raises serious concerns over parenting payment cuts

[Redman, Chris (Sen R. Siewert)]

29 May 2013

Human Rights Commission raises serious concerns over parenting payment cuts

The Australian Human Rights Commission has raised serious concerns in estimates today about the impact of the Government's cuts to payments for single parents.
"Speaking in Senate Estimates, representatives from the Human Rights Commission made it clear that these cuts have raised very serious human rights concerns," Senator Rachel Siewert said today.
"These are the same concerns raised by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights- concerns to which the Government is yet to respond.
"The Commission reaffirmed their support for an increase in Newstart, particularly in light of January's payment cuts and their inevitable impact on single parents.

"Losing $60 to $120 per week from a single parents household budget greatly increases the pressure people are under, so it is deeply disappointing that the an increase of $50 per week to Newstart was not included in the Federal Budget.
"The Commission's concerns about the effect of these cuts on human rights are reflected in the personal stories I'm hearing from people in the community, and also in the reports being produced by organisations in the community sector.
"The Government seem quite content to ignore this issue, as is evidenced by their lack of monitoring to assess the impact the cuts have had.
"It is clear that a lack of resources makes it hard for the Human Rights Commission or community organisations to undertake the comprehensive monitoring which is required. If the Government will not commit to their own, transparent monitoring process, then they should make funding available for it to be undertaken independently.
"The Government cannot sweep this issue under the carpet by ignoring the impact it is having on the community," Senator Siewert concluded.