The Australian Council of Social Service today welcomed the government's promise of extensive consultation in the development of stage 2 of its welfare reform process. President, Andrew McCallum, said ACOSS applauds the government's promise not to rush stage 2 of the reforms through Parliament without first undertaking proper consultation and careful analysis of the implications for the most vulnerable Australians. "It is no secret that Australia's social security system is complex, riddled with anomalies and in need of streamlining," Mr McCallum said. "ACOSS's top priority is to remove the most glaring anomaly from the current system: the disparity in payments between unemployed people, students, and pensioners. "As the McClure Report argued, this is not only unfair, it penalises people for acting to improve their job prospects." Examples of current anomalies include: if a disability pensioner undergoes rehabilitation and starts looking for work, they transfer from the pension to Newstart Allowance, losing $32 per week in the process. if an unemployed adult undertakes full-time study to improve their job prospects, they lose $83 per week. "We urge the government to confront this and other problems with our social security structure by consulting widely with all stakeholders over the coming year. "A major issue is the rate and duration of breach penalties currently imposed on unemployed people. Without significant reductions in these harsh penalties, welfare reform will stall. "ACOSS looks forward to working with government to make sure welfare reform is fair and effective, and backed by substantial new investment." Deborah Connors <media@acoss.org.au> Media Officer Australian Council of Social Service, Locked Bag 4777, Strawberry Hills 2012 Australia Ph 02 9310 4844 extension 215 Mob 0419 626 155 Fax 02 9310 4822 ACOSS website: http://www.acoss.org.au ###