CONDITIONAL WELFARE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COMPULSORY INCOME MANAGEMENT POLICIES IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
(2018–2020) ARC Discovery Project
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Income management quarantines a portion of social security payments, placing these funds in a special account that can only be used to pay for essentials such as food and bills, and cannot be used to purchase alcohol or tobacco. Compulsory income management was first introduced to Australia - and, indeed, the world - in 2007 as part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (‘the intervention’), and has been through several incarnations in the decade since. A comparable policy - ‘money management’ - was introduced to New Zealand in 2012.
This project is the first large independent study of compulsory income management in Australia and New Zealand. It investigates how income management has developed as a policy, how it is being implemented by service providers, and how it affects the lives, choices and autonomy of benefit recipients.
RESEARCH TEAM
Professor Greg Marston
Associate Professor Phillip Mendes
Associate Professor Louise Humpage
Dr Shelley Bielefeld
Dr Michelle Peterie
Dr Zoe Staines
Dr Steven Roche
WHO YOU KNOW OR WHERE YOU GO? THE ROLE OF FORMAL AND INFORMAL NETWORKS IN FINDING EMPLOYMENT AND MAINTAINING WELLBEING
(2015-2018) ARC Linkage Project
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Recent empirical studies have demonstrated that informal social networks improve well-being and labour market outcomes for the unemployed in Europe. However, no comparable Australian study has been conducted and there is little research on the role of the 'formal' networks represented by employment services programs in Australia or overseas.
This project explores unemployed people's formal and informal networks and the impact of those networks on employment status and wellbeing.
The research will inform unemployment policy design and service delivery by providing a greater understanding of the role that social networks play in finding jobs and surviving unemployment.
RESEARCH TEAM
Associate Professor Gaby Ramia
Professor Greg Marston
Associate Professor Roger Patulny
Dr Michelle Peterie
Ms Kirsten Ibbotson
Compulsory Income Management in Australia and New Zealand
More than a decade on from their conception, this book reflects on the consequences of income management policies in Australia and Zealand.
Drawing on a three-year study, it explores the lived experience of those for whom core welfare benefits and services are dependent on government conceptions of ‘responsible’ behaviour. It analyses whether officially claimed positive intentions and benefits of the schemes are outweighed by negative impacts that deepen the poverty and stigma of marginalised and disadvantaged groups.
This novel study considers the future of this form of welfare conditionality and addresses wider questions of fairness and social justice.