The Greens have called on Employment Relations Minister Murray Watt to immediately suspend the Targeted Compliance Framework (TCF) after Greens questioning during estimates revealed the Department had no confidence in the system.
As stated by Greens spokesperson on Social Services, Senator Penny Allman-Payne:
"It's clear from their responses to my estimates questions that both the Department and the Minister have serious concerns about the TCF.
"Neither were able to provide any assurance that the mutual obligations regime is operating lawfully, which is a remarkable thing to admit given they continue to impose it on hundreds of thousands of people on income support.
"We know as many as a thousand people may have had their Centrelink payments cancelled illegally after welfare payments were incorrectly cut off due to Departmental mistakes, 10 of whom have subsequently died.
"People on income support and their advocates are sick of Labor's hand-waving about employment services reform. The Minister must immediately suspend the TCF so it can no longer inflict harm on people on some of the lowest incomes in the country.
"The Greens will continue fighting to eliminate for-profit providers from the employment services system, to restore the Commonwealth Employment Service, and abolish all mutual obligations."
