Post by Banker on Mar 31, 2012 8:46:13 GMT 7
Carr wants to put 'human' back into human services
Senator Kim Carr has used his first speech as Minister for Human Services to criticise some of the bureaucratic language used to describe people seeking benefits.
Senator Carr says he thinks Medicare and Centrelink need to scrap terms like "customers" and "clients" when describing people who have no choice but to deal with the agencies.
After his speech to the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) national conference in Sydney, Senator Carr told The World Today the focus should be on dealing with citizens.
"There are many millions and millions of Australians that use the Department of Human Services," he said.
"The focus here is dealing with citizens, with all the rights and responsibilities that that concept brings with it, so that we ensure that people are treated with respect and dignity and we ensure that we focus upon meeting real human needs quickly and in a sensitive way."
He says the concept of the customer is fitting in the commercial world, as it "implies equality of operations that occur in a marketplace".
But he says higher standards need to be applied to people who have little choice in dealing with government.
"We have higher standards when we talk about the principles of citizenship, the responsibilities of government to its people to ensure that they get treated well, that they are accorded the respect that they deserve and that they are able to ensure that their entitlements are met in a timely and high quality way," he said.
Senator Carr says changing the language will not be a big shift in documents and paperwork, but is all about attitudes.
"We have to ensure that economic opportunities are made available so that people can enjoy the benefits of really participating in our country and the fundamental principles of social democracy are that everyone gets a fair go," he said.
"And that can't be done by simply talking about issues. You have actually got to deliver.
"What I want to ensure, though, is that the language that is used reflects the treatment that we are encouraging people have a right to expect."
Shock jocks
He also criticised shock jocks for inflaming the debate about people who get welfare benefits from the Government.
"I think there has been an intention in some quarters to look to the shock and horror of people that actually make claims on government as if there is something illegitimate or improper," he said.
"I take the view that people are able to approach government on the basis of what this Government is doing to help them deal with what are acute economic circumstances for many families.
"People have a right to expect the Government will be there with them, standing shoulder to shoulder with them."
goo.gl/nEId2
Senator Kim Carr has used his first speech as Minister for Human Services to criticise some of the bureaucratic language used to describe people seeking benefits.
Senator Carr says he thinks Medicare and Centrelink need to scrap terms like "customers" and "clients" when describing people who have no choice but to deal with the agencies.
After his speech to the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) national conference in Sydney, Senator Carr told The World Today the focus should be on dealing with citizens.
"There are many millions and millions of Australians that use the Department of Human Services," he said.
"The focus here is dealing with citizens, with all the rights and responsibilities that that concept brings with it, so that we ensure that people are treated with respect and dignity and we ensure that we focus upon meeting real human needs quickly and in a sensitive way."
He says the concept of the customer is fitting in the commercial world, as it "implies equality of operations that occur in a marketplace".
But he says higher standards need to be applied to people who have little choice in dealing with government.
"We have higher standards when we talk about the principles of citizenship, the responsibilities of government to its people to ensure that they get treated well, that they are accorded the respect that they deserve and that they are able to ensure that their entitlements are met in a timely and high quality way," he said.
Senator Carr says changing the language will not be a big shift in documents and paperwork, but is all about attitudes.
"We have to ensure that economic opportunities are made available so that people can enjoy the benefits of really participating in our country and the fundamental principles of social democracy are that everyone gets a fair go," he said.
"And that can't be done by simply talking about issues. You have actually got to deliver.
"What I want to ensure, though, is that the language that is used reflects the treatment that we are encouraging people have a right to expect."
Shock jocks
He also criticised shock jocks for inflaming the debate about people who get welfare benefits from the Government.
"I think there has been an intention in some quarters to look to the shock and horror of people that actually make claims on government as if there is something illegitimate or improper," he said.
"I take the view that people are able to approach government on the basis of what this Government is doing to help them deal with what are acute economic circumstances for many families.
"People have a right to expect the Government will be there with them, standing shoulder to shoulder with them."
goo.gl/nEId2