Encouraging lawful behaviour of income support recipients 2018 Budget fines The Government will work with states and Defaulting on court-imposed fines has serious territories to put in place a process to consequences that make it harder for someone to find and maintain a job, including suspension of encourage people on welfare to clear fines their driver’s licence, vehicle immobilisation and and outstanding arrest warrants. incarceration. From 1 2019, people receiving welfare What was announced in payments with outstanding court-imposed fines the 2018 Budget? will be encouraged to make repayment arrangements via Centrepay. In the 2018-19 Budget, the Australian If they do not voluntarily enter a repayment Government announced its intention to work arrangement, they will be contacted by Centrelink together with state and territory governments to and encouraged to enter a repayment encourage Australians to meet their obligations arrangement with the relevant state and territory under state and territory laws. government. If they fail to enter an arrangement, compulsory deductions will be taken from their These measures are part of a suite of Budget welfare payments to pay for their fines. initiatives to strengthen mutual obligation requirements for people receiving welfare People who are repaying debts to the payments. Commonwealth, such as Centrelink overpayments or tax debts, will not be affected by this measure. From 1 March 2019, the Government intends to introduce new measures that encourage welfare recipients defaulting on their Arrest warrants fines to pay their debt, and for From 1 March 2019, people receiving welfare welfare recipients to clear outstanding payments with outstanding arrest warrants for arrest warrants for serious criminal indictable criminal offences will have their offences, or face payment suspension. payment suspended or reduced by half if they The Australian community expects people who have dependent children. seek help from the welfare system to meet their mutual obligations and abide by the law.
Encouraging lawful behaviour of income support recipients 2018 Budget The Government will work with states and territories to put in place a process to encourage people on welfare to clear fines and outstanding arrest warrants. What was announced in the 2018 Budget? In the 2018-19 Budget, the Australian Government announced its intention to work together with state and territory governments to encourage Australians to meet their obligations under state and territory laws. These measures are part of a suite of Budget initiatives to strengthen mutual obligation requirements for people receiving welfare payments. From 1 March 2019, the Government intends to introduce new measures that encourage welfare recipients defaulting on their fines to pay their debt, and for welfare recipients to clear outstanding arrest warrants for serious criminal offences, or face payment suspension. The Australian community expects people who seek help from the welfare system to meet their mutual obligations and abide by the law. fines Defaulting on court-imposed fines has serious consequences that make it harder for someone to find and maintain a job, including suspension of their driver’s licence, vehicle immobilisation and incarceration. From 1 2019, people receiving welfare payments with outstanding court-imposed fines will be encouraged to make repayment arrangements via Centrepay. If they do not voluntarily enter a repayment arrangement, they will be contacted by Centrelink and encouraged to enter a repayment arrangement with the relevant state and territory government. If they fail to enter an arrangement, compulsory deductions will be taken from their welfare payments to pay for their fines. People who are repaying debts to the Commonwealth, such as Centrelink overpayments or tax debts, will not be affected by this measure. Arrest warrants From 1 March 2019, people receiving welfare payments with outstanding arrest warrants for indictable criminal offences will have their payment suspended or reduced by half if they have dependent children.
d18_13637_budget_2018-19_-_factsheet_-_encouraging_lawful_behaviour_of_income_support_recipients.docx