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Further implications
Tightening restrictions on the unemployed is largely an ideological measure, founded on concepts of civic worthiness as demonstrated by the often repeated distinction between supposed 'lifters' and 'leaners'. It is claimed that those of us who 'lift' (because we are taxpayers in the paid workforce) should not have to support those who do not. Why these measures appear ideological is that they cannot be sustained by factual argument.
Historically, approximately 70 percent of those on unemployment benefits find work within a year. Denying these people income support for six months seems more likely to hinder than facility their search for work. Those who remained unemployed for beyond a year usually had some significant impediment to their employment such as low skills or living in a remote area.
More recently the pattern has changed because of a contraction in the labour market. The workforce is growing at a faster rate than available jobs. To condemn those who are out of work to six months without financial support when there are not sufficient jobs to provide them all with employment seems futile. People cannot be forced into jobs that are not available.
It should also be noted that Australia's level of support for the unemployed is already low by international standards. There have been repeated calls for Newstart to be lifted, rather than effectively halved. Forcing most of those under 25 onto the lower Youth Allowance and delaying access to that by six months also will only exacerbate the problem of extreme poverty in the Australian community.
It is difficult to imagine how those condemned to living for six months without either Youth Allowance or Newstart are expected to do so. Recent studies conducted in western Sydney indicate that people on Newstart for over a year are already relying on private charities and begging.
Australia is witnessing a growth in awareness of the importance of mental health, yet the proposed changes to Newstart and Youth Allowance are likely to increase the incidence of depression. Youth suicide rates in Australia are high. The current measures are likely to see them rise further. It also seems inevitable that crime rates will increase as a result of these changes, because desperate people often do desperate things.
What these measures indicate is a shift in values regarding the function of government, which for successive generations in Australia has included the provision of social welfare. However, there appears to be resistance within some of our governing elites to the maintenance of a broadly-based welfare state. It has become a government objective to narrow the criteria under which it is possible to access welfare assistance.
The welfare state grew out of belief in 'the commonweal', that is, the belief that all of society benefits when each of its members is adequately supported.
The electorate will need to decide the extent to which it wishes to support those who have reduced capacity to support themselves.