Post by Banjo on Nov 2, 2011 16:03:57 GMT 7
NSW lobbying to link welfare to school attendance
A New South Wales Government Minister is calling for a trial program linking welfare payments to school attendance to be extended to the state.
The program is already in place in parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland.
Welfare payments to parents are reduced if they do not regularly send their children to school.
Kevin Humphries is Mental Health Minister and Nationals MP for the western NSW seat of Barwon.
He says the Federal Government should extend the program to boost school attendance in his electorate.
"Our attendance rates have been quite poor. To link that to Centrelink payments, welfare payments, family payments the Federal Government has been quite reluctant I believe to push that debate out wider," Mr Humphries said.
"I think certainly from my community as the local member it is a discussion that we want to have."
Mr Humphries says low school attendance rates are a time bomb.
"Whist they are not attending they are being denied a future," he said.
"If the welfare payments are incentives to do that then all will be good, but if people are still choosing to opt out and are still expecting to be propped up then people like myself and many in the community have difficulty with that."
www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-02/nsw-lobbying-to-link-welfare-to-school-attendance/3614592?section=nsw
A New South Wales Government Minister is calling for a trial program linking welfare payments to school attendance to be extended to the state.
The program is already in place in parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland.
Welfare payments to parents are reduced if they do not regularly send their children to school.
Kevin Humphries is Mental Health Minister and Nationals MP for the western NSW seat of Barwon.
He says the Federal Government should extend the program to boost school attendance in his electorate.
"Our attendance rates have been quite poor. To link that to Centrelink payments, welfare payments, family payments the Federal Government has been quite reluctant I believe to push that debate out wider," Mr Humphries said.
"I think certainly from my community as the local member it is a discussion that we want to have."
Mr Humphries says low school attendance rates are a time bomb.
"Whist they are not attending they are being denied a future," he said.
"If the welfare payments are incentives to do that then all will be good, but if people are still choosing to opt out and are still expecting to be propped up then people like myself and many in the community have difficulty with that."
www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-02/nsw-lobbying-to-link-welfare-to-school-attendance/3614592?section=nsw