7 December 2020Please note: the Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Simplifying Income Reporting and Other Measures) Act 2020 commenced on 7 December 2020.  Income support recipients  now report the gross amount paid to them during their reporting period, instead of calculating the amount of income they will earn.  Further information can be found at the Services Australia website. Background The Australian Government is improving and simplifying the way that employment income is reported and assessed for social security purposes. These changes make reporting easier for payment recipients, meaning people receive the right amount of income support and are less… [...]

27 November 2020On Friday, 27 November 2020, the Minister for Families and Social Services, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston, hosted the Ministers’ Redress Scheme Governance Board (Board) meeting of relevant Ministers with responsibility for the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (the Scheme) in their state or territory. Ministers acknowledged the significant improvement made by the Scheme to process applications, and agreed that finalisation of applications for survivors must continue to be expedited. As at 20 November 2020, 4,260 applications had been finalised, including 4,221 payments made, totalling around $350 million, with an average payment of around $83,000.… [...]