The Federal Government should remove Schedule 5 from the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment Bill, ACOSS said today.
The Bill includes some positive reforms to debt waivers, which are long overdue and which we support.
But under Schedule 5, the Home Affairs Minister would be able to cancel a person's income support payment if they are accused of a serious offence even before they have been charged.
"This would grant sweeping new powers to the minister that have not undergone proper scrutiny and have nothing to do with the bill's original intent," said ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie.
"Schedule 5 was inserted late and does something completely unrelated to the rest of the bill. It allows the Government to cancel someone's income support based solely on an accusation. That is a dangerous departure from the presumption of innocence."
ACOSS warned there is no evidence that the measure would improve community safety and flagged serious concerns about the lack of safeguards for dependents, including children.
"This change could have a disproportionate impact on groups already over-represented in the justice system, including First Nations people and people with disability," said Dr Goldie.
"Giving police new powers should only ever occur with rigorous Parliamentary scrutiny and clear justification.
"Schedule 5 should be removed. The Government must not allow an important bill designed to fix past injustices to be compromised by a measure that creates new ones."
