Changes to social security
Since the start of the 58’08 campaign last year the GLRL realised that although the introduction of equality at a federal level was going to accord new rights to tens of thousands of gay and lesbian Australians, we also knew it would also bring new responsibilities.
The Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Inquiry, undertaken by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2007, also grappled with the issue of impact.
In order to ascertain the community’s views on these issues, the inquiry undertook widespread consultations throughout regional, rural and metropolitan Australia. The outcome of those consultations was overwhelming support for the reforms, accompanied by the sentiment that new rights should come before new responsibilities.
Over the past few weeks some in our community have written to me concerned about the effects the reforms will have on social security laws. Since the beginning of the 58’08 campaign, the GLRL has worked with members of parliament and government agencies to ensure that the social security reforms are introduced in the fairest way possible. We are also part of a reference group, established specifically to deal with the impact of social security reforms.
The reference group includes representatives from the Welfare Rights Centre, ACON, Positive Life and People with Disabilities NSW, to name a few. We are working hard with this group to liaise with Centrelink and government to ensure that the changes are made with the least possible detrimental effects on our community. Some of the options discussed so far include: phasing in the reforms, and grandfathering the reforms so that people already in receipt of
social security do not have it taken away.
We are also working with the Welfare Rights Centre and other agencies to develop an education campaign for our community, so that people can prepare for the impact of the reforms, and so that people can assert their new rights and responsibilities with confidence.
While these reforms are the most significant for gay and lesbian equality in the history of the Australian Parliament, we will continue to work with the community, with other organisations and the Government to ensure that they are implemented with fairness and equity.
Bit late to be thinking about that now isn’t it!!!. I’d find it hard to believe that the glrl would know if their arses were on fire. Good luck with getting fairness or sensitivity from Centrelink, they hate their clients and treat them badly already, imagine how they’re going to treat gay people. What happens when investigators ring up your work to check on your entitlements?, it’s going to be out-a-rama. Who do you go to for recourse if, for example, you’re a teacher for a Catholic school, Centrelink investigators ring the school, casually out you, and they LEGALLY fire you for being gay?. There will be loads of stories like this, and even if you don’t work for a religious organisation and you just happen to be in a homophobic industry you may well be treated to a campaign of bastardisation that makes your life so miserable that you are micromanaged out of your job, you’re the first one to go when retrenchments hit, or your life is made so miserable that you have to leave.
Both me and my girlfriend have been harrassed out of jobs for being gay. And no, they didn’t say you’re gay – you’re fired, homophobes know that they have to be sneaky when they discriminate. Anyone over thirty knows how it works in the het world, but the kids at glrl work in a gay-friendly environment and are young and dumb and have only just finished having their noses blown for them by mummy and daddy, so what would they know about working in the wider world?.
We can still be fired on grounds of homosexuality from our work if we work for a group run by a religious group, e.g. teachers in religious schools, anyone working for a religious charity etc. Didn’t manage to change any laws there. We want TOTAL equality, not the bits and pieces that suit them, and we STILL don’t have marriage.
Have the idiots at glrl realised that a lot of welfare and employment services are run by church groups, and all the church groups have wide-ranging exemptions from anti-discrimination acts!!!!.