Share
“Welfare cheat” stories have become a staple for tabloid current affairs programs in Australia. We regularly hear about the scourge of dole bludgers and those in the community who are claiming benefits but appear to be healthy. In fact, the recent Budget announced a crackdown on the disability support pension by overhauling the impairment test. The tax office is quick to pursue people for minor amounts of unpaid tax and Centrelink will recover any money that may have been incorrectly paid because of a change of personal details. Fair enough. But where is the obligation for Centrelink to ensure that those Australians who are entitled to receive government assistance actually receive it? The short answer is there is no obligation.
Related documents
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
The sad phenomenon of Australia’s unfunded excellence
In Australia, prize-winning artists, writers and musicians pay more tax than some multinational fossil fuel companies with turnover in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
NDS needs reality, not imagination
The 2024 National Defence Strategy (NDS) looks more like the impactless pronouncements of consultants’ “decks” than a persuasive guide to the government’s security plans for the next decade or two.
Finding peace is hard, but unending mutual destruction is in no one’s interest
Like most of the US allies, Australia is caught between a rock and a hard place.