Submission on the Interim Report of the McClure Review of Australia’s Welfare System
21 August 2014
This submission responds to A New System for Better Employment and Social Outcomes, the Interim Report of the Reference Group of Welfare Reform.
The Business Council of Australia’s key interests in the review are to ensure that the system:
• promotes workforce participation for those who are able to work
• is fiscally sustainable
• provides adequate support to those who need it.
The submission states that to achieve these aims the review should systematically identify any barriers and disincentives faced by people within the system to participating in the workforce, and take a whole-of-system approach when identifying how workforce participation incentives and support could be improved.
The review should also assess the spending trajectory of key income support payments and examine how reforms can be designed to slow their growth, while balancing the adequacy of welfare payments.