By Nechama Basserabie
The Turnbull-Morrison government has had a questionable record on social policy: the legalisation of same-sex marriage was swiftly followed by revelations of discrimination in religious schools, while new pieces of legislation have imposed growing restrictions on free speech in Australia.
Social security and welfare still represent the largest portion of government expenditure in this year’s budget (albeit with a projected drop from 36% to 35.8% of total expenditure over the next four years), and the government has made commitments to improve access to health services. But there are concerns over the delivery and efficacy of measures being put in place.
The Coalition’s efforts to address gender justice issues, Indigenous rights and the embattled National Disability Insurance Scheme have been analysed here. This article will look at the human rights impacts of this year’s Federal Budget particularly in terms of business and foreign aid, health and gender justice.
The Federal Election in May is an opportunity to see whether the major parties will deliver concrete and substantive commitments to confronting these issues head-on.
Business and Foreign Aid
The 2019-20 Budget contains measures for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to support development and labour opportunities in the Indo-Pacific region. In response to the region’s infrastructure needs the government will launch the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP) ($500 million over four years), and will also continue the $70 million commitment in the 2018-19 Budget to the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS).
The scheme, which aims to create labour mobility opportunities for Pacific Islanders, will be expanded to all Pacific Island nations. Overall however, the Budget represents a reduction in Australia’s foreign aid commitment, with the aid allocation being reduced from the $4.33 billion projected for this financial year to $4.04 billion in 2019-20.
However, a joint report by Jubilee Australia, Caritas Australia and UNSW has expressed serious concerns over the impact the AIFFP will have on the Pacific region. The report suggests the scheme is based on inadequate legislation, incomplete assessments of Pacific Island nations’ infrastructure needs and a flawed debt model that will only exacerbate the vulnerability of severely indebted nations. Overall it is unclear the scheme in its current form will facilitate sustainable development in the region.
Writing for the Human Rights Defender, Angela Kintominas has criticised the gendered impact of the PLS.[1] Migrant women already represent a significant proportion of Australia’s care work industry, an unstable and often undervalued form of labour. This will only increase as a result of the PLS which specifically looks to create pathways for female migrant workers to fill Australia’s care work industry.
Health
The Government has committed $104 billion in spending for health, aged care and sport in 2019-20, up from $99.1 billion in 2018-19. While the announcement of a Royal Commission into abuse of people with disabilities and additional spending on mental health and suicide prevention programs have been welcomed by disability and mental health advocates, the Budget’s $1.6 billion underspend on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is significant cause for concern.
The Government has committed $528 million over five years to a Royal Commission into violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation of people with disabilities, the largest spend on a Royal Commission to date.
The Budget has also introduced short-term measures directed at the endemic issues in aged care and disability that the commission is intended to address, such as funding for 10,000 additional home care packages ($282 million over five years) and additional support to young carers through the Integrated Carer Support Service ($84.3 million over four years).
However, the National Disability Insurance Agency is facing continued challenges to the implementation of the NDIS. The federal government spent $3.8 billion less on the NDIS than was estimated in last year’s budget, and its projected underspend of $1.6 billion on the NDIS in 2019-20 has raised serious concerns.
Almost three-quarters of disability services providers surveyed say its processes and systems are in crisis. Disability advocates say the allocation in this year’s Budget for the scheme is far too low, with its price caps for services like therapy and personal care barely meeting needs, and nearly one-third of services currently operating at a loss. Despite the announcement of the 10,000 additional home care packages, it is estimated this will still leave 100,000 people waiting.
The announcement of additional funding for mental health programs includes continued support for Headspace services for young people ($263 million over seven years), additional support for early psychosis services ($110 million over four years), resources for workplace mental health programs ($15 million) and funding for new residential care centres for eating disorders ($63 million).
However, the sentiment among mental health experts appears to be that these spending commitments represent a band-aid solution for underlying structural issues relating to the delivery of mental health programs and suicide prevention strategies.
The most promising long-term measure is the $114.5 million commitment to eight new walk-in community mental health centres, in recognition of the fact that access is one of the greatest national challenges to supporting Australians living with mental health conditions. With the Federal Election in May, it remains to be seen whether a commitment to comprehensively address mental health challenges and suicide prevention will form part of the major parties’ election platforms.
Finally, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) has expressed disappointment at the absence of funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health in the Federal Budget. While welcoming the $15 million allocated to Indigenous suicide prevention and $20 million for Indigenous-specific initiatives for treatment and prevention of blood-borne viruses and sexual transmissible infections, NACCHO CEO Pat Turner said in a statement that the commitment is inadequate, in light of the gap in health outcomes between Indigenous and other Australians.
Gender
Perhaps the most significant announcement in the 2019-20 Budget regarding gender justice is the commitment to provide $328 million over four years to implement the Fourth Action Plan under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022, which will build on previous Action Plans.
This includes $78 million to provide refuges for people impacted by domestic and family violence; $68 million for domestic and family violence prevention strategies, $64 million for 1800RESPECT, the national phone counselling service for sexual assault, domestic and family violence; and $35 million for support and prevention strategies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Government has outlined its commitment to recognising within the Fourth Action Plan the varied forms abuse can take, including financial and technology-facilitated abuse, as well as the particular vulnerability of women with intellectual disabilities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
However, the National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) has said that this “modest recognition” is still insufficient to recognise the “complex interplay of policies, systems and norms” that contributes to gender-based violence.
The NFAW also opposes the Budget’s headline items of an increased income tax offset for low to middle income earners and a long-term proposed reduction to tax rates for higher income earners. It argues that the Low to Middle Income Tax Offset is poorly designed and will ultimately secure less benefits for low income earners, disproportionately affecting women.
In its report on the Budget, the National Tertiary Education Union expressed scepticism about measures designed to give Australian women financial security, building on the $119.2 million allocated in November 2018 as part of the Women’s Economic Security Statement. The union states there is very little focus on targeting gender inequality and sexism and inequalities in superannuation and underemployment of women. The report acknowledges however that a small allocation ($3.4 million over four years) has been made to encourage women to pursue education and careers in STEM.
Nechama Basserabie is a final year student at UNSW Sydney studying a Bachelor of Art Theory/Laws. She was the student editor of Human Rights Defender 28:1 - Special Issue on Business and Human Rights.
[1] Angela Kintominas, “Business, human rights and gender equality: working towards an intersectional, feminist and transformative agenda”, Human Rights Defender (publication forthcoming, 2019)