Welfare reform … and the ACT Party

as at October 2011

• Ensure that there is strong, adequate support for the genuinely needy;

• Re-introduce a youth training rate or minimum wage;

• Introduce obligations for sole parent beneficiaries to ensure their children are properly cared for including taking budgeting instruction and meeting  regular health checks;

• Introduce sanctions - such as suspension of the unemployment benefit and mandatory work-for-the-dole - in cases where reasonable offers of employment are declined;

• Require mandatory drug rehabilitation or loss of benefit for unemployed beneficiaries who fail work tests because of drug or substance addiction;

• Introduce income management and the requirement to live with a responsible adult for parents under the age of 18;

• Have independent, government-approved gatekeeping and assessment of applicants for the sickness and invalids benefit, and six monthly reassessment of sickness beneficiaries;

• Outsource all employment placement activities to private sector providers and foster a competitive market for sickness, invalid and employment insurance;

• Encourage practical Maori-focused solutions, including Whanau Ora, to lift Maori out of poverty and benefit dependency;

• Introduce a hotline (like Crimestoppers) to report benefit fraud;

• Cut welfare payments to middle and upper income earners through reform of Working for Families.

<http://www.act.org.nz/policies/welfare>