Australian welfare rights advocates have welcomed changes aimed at preventing family violence victim-survivors from being punished under Centrelink rules.
Under social security rules, people must declare to Centrelink whether they are single or in a relationship. Those deemed to be in a “couple” receive a lower rate of income support than singles.
But advocates have long warned that the rule has a perverse effect on victim-survivors of family and domestic violence. They have argued that victims are often coerced into claiming the higher “single” rate by abusive partners who control their finances.
This can leave the victim with a large welfare debt if Centrelink later investigates, while the threat of being reported to the agency can stop women from leaving a violent situation.
In other cases, victim-survivors have been classified as being in a couple, even while seeking to leave the relationship. If classified as being in a couple, they could be barred from income support entirely if their abuser earns too much.
Economic Justice Australia (EJA), which represents social security focused community legal centres, has long called for changes to the social security guide to address the issue.
Leanne Ho, the organisation’s chief executive, said the changes meant Centrelink officers would soon need to explicitly consider whether domestic violence was a factor when determining if a recipient was a member of a couple.
Ho said Centrelink staff would be able to use evidence of domestic violence to determine that a Centrelink recipient was not a member of a couple, overriding other evidence such as the fact the individuals were formally married.
“We’ve had situations where a victim-survivor of violence has had their violent partner accompany them to every Centrelink interview, gone to the doctor with them, access their bank accounts and had control over their credit cards,” Ho said.
“And instead of seeing that as evidence that this relationship isn’t one where the finances are being shared or pooled, Centrelink has actually used those instances of financial control as evidence that they are in a relationship.
“And that’s completely out of step with community understanding now.”
Ho described the case of Mia*, who had been rejected for income support despite leaving her violent husband.
“Her ex-husband worked but would not give her any money unless she begged and he would routinely humiliate her before he gave her a few dollars,” Ho said.
“In Centrelink’s assessment, she was still a member of a couple and he was earning enough to knock out her entitlement to payment. These changes to the guide make it more likely that women like Mia will be able to avoid the terrible choice of either staying in a violent situation or leaving with no support for her and the children to fall into deep poverty”.
Guardian Australia reported last year how another domestic violence victim-survivor and mother of three was left without vital Centrelink payments for six weeks after a false tip-off from the alleged perpetrator. In another case handled by an ELA member centre, a 62-year-old woman was rejected for jobseeker payments due to assets jointly owned with her controlling partner, despite the fact she had left the family home.
A 2019 report from Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (Anrows) reviewed 70 administrative appeals tribunal decisions where domestic violence was present, finding in 49 cases the Centrelink recipient was still found to be a member of a couple.
Ho said while the change to Centrelink rules was a positive step, the organisation wanted to see it “embedded and cemented in legislation”.
EJA said the government should now change the Social Security Act to protect victim-survivors from being pursued for debt that was caused by an abusive partner.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, said: “The Albanese Labor government appreciates the very important work Economic Justice Australia is performing on behalf of people who have experienced family and domestic violence.
“We’ve worked with EJA to address their concerns and as such my department – the Department of Social Services – is amending relevant Social Security Guide pages to better address the issue of family and domestic violence.”
The new rules start on 8 May.
*Name has been changed to protect privacy.
