FED: Welfare payments tied to school attendance under bill
PARLY 04404 Dec 2008 11:50 PM
CANBERRA, Dec 4 AAP - Parents could have their welfare payments suspended if their children wag school, under a bill passed by federal parliament.
Trials in the Northern Territory and Western Australia would start at the beginning of first school term next year under the bill, passed by the Senate on Thursday.
About 3,300 children will be targeted in the trials, which will be evaluated before the scheme is rolled out nationally.
Welfare payments would usually be suspended for a few days only, not the maximum 13 weeks, and once parents "re-engaged" with Centrelink they would receive backpay.
Further, parents will not lose payments if they couldn't control their kids.
The Australian Greens opposed the bill.
"I can't believe a Rudd government would bring this in," Greens senator Rachel Siewert said.
But government frontbencher Kim Carr said the bill was a step forward.
"This is a bill actually aimed at ensuring all children in Australia go to school," he said.
The The Social Security and Veterans Entitlements Legislation Amendment (Schooling Requirements) Bill 2008 with the support of the opposition.
