Aus - Welfare recipients to be drug tested in dole crackdown

[poledriver]

Welfare recipients to be drug tested in dole crackdown

The Federal Government has used the budget to announce a major crackdown on drug-addicts and alcoholics languishing on the dole.

When the random drug tests are enforced, the coalition forecasts expected savings to taxpayers of $632 million over the next four years.

It’s about to be much harder to skip job interviews for those who are long term welfare recipients, and older job seekers will be forced to look harder for work.

Alcohol problems and drug dependency will be axed as a stand-alone reason for getting the Disability Support Pension from July 1.

Random drug tests will be administered on 5000 unemployed job seekers in 2018 and 2019, with private drug testing companies to conduct tests at three trial sites nationally.

Saliva, urine and hair follicles will be tested, scanning for traces of ice, cannabis and ecstasy.

Wastewater testing will illustrate where drug use is prevalent, and the three trial sites will be chosen based off these results.

Job seekers who fail a drug test will see their welfare cheques ‘quarantined’, and will be placed on a cashless system so they can only spend the taxpayer’s money on living essentials such as housing, food and utilities.

If you fail a test, then you’ll be subject to continuing random drug tests and forced to see a government-appointed doctor upon failing a second time. The doctors can recommend drug rehab, medication, or Alcoholics Anonymous as a condition of staying on the dole.

The Government is also introducing a ‘three strike’ demerit system for bludgers who skip job or job placement interviews.

Job agencies will now have to inform Centrelink of every no-show for interviews, and job seekers will only be allowed to miss three appointments in six months before they lose half a fortnightly payment.

Breaking the rules after missing three appointments will result in being stripped of a full payment worth $535.60 and after three strikes will be forced to wait a month to reapply for the dole.

https://tenplay.com.au/news/national/may-2017/welfare-recipients-to-be-drug-tested-in-dole-crackdown

 

[poledriver]

The Government Announced It Will Be Drug Testing Centrelink Clients And People Are Pissed

"Drug use is a mental health issue. Drug testing trials for welfare recipients is embarrassing work Australia."

Around 5000 Centrelink recipients will be randomly drug tested, and those who return a positive sample for ecstasy, cannabis, or ice will be moved to a cashless debit card for up to two years.
There will be multiple tests used: saliva, urine, and hair follicle, and Centrelink recipients will receive a letter at random that informs them to attend a face-to-face meeting at their local Centrelink office. They will not be told they are about to be drug tested.

And many, many, many people had their own suggestion: if we're going to drug test welfare recipients before they are allowed to take public funds, maybe we should also drug test politicians.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale said that drug testing welfare recipients will only stigmatise them further.

"It’s a perfect storm of ill-informed, mean-spirited policy," he said in a statement.
“Once again the government is taking a page from Tony Abbott’s playbook and trying to raise revenue on the back of the most vulnerable people in our society. By extending the waiting period for access to income support from three to six months for people who have more than $18,000 in the bank, this government is driving those people trying to get out of poverty further into it."

Read the whole article with twitter quotes etc -

https://www.buzzfeed.com/bradesposito/drug-test-pollies?utm_term=.cv51qDab7#.qyNqKAGj2

 

[poledriver]

>>> Cannabis 7 to 30 days in urine, up to 90 days in hair...

This is pretty unfair imo. Imagine how many people they are going to catch who used some weed a week or two ago (or two or three months ago)? Wtf.

 

[Mel22]

Heard this today...fucking pathetic.

 

[zephyr]

Some communities have been moved entirely to the welfare card which can buy food etc only already. This is because of the high unemployment and high drug use combo. Its also because most of the unemployed are Aboriginal. I cant recall the name of the main town in particular but its resulted in the known dealers leaving.

If the dealers were known why the hell were they not removed instead? Too hard is it?

 

[zephyr]

But yes to drug testing politicians. They cost more money than centrelink. They should be stripped of their ridiculous earnings and lose superannuation.

That will save us heaps!

 

[poledriver]

Welfare recipients’ drug test results won’t be passed onto police

RESULTS of drug tests on welfare recipients will not be passed on to police, even if a drugged-out dole bludger gets in a car to drive away after a positive test.

As the Turnbull Government yesterday dug in to support trialling drug testing of 5000 welfare recipients, it can be revealed legislation will be introduced to ensure results are only used by the Social Services Department.

Welfare recipients will have to travel to an independent contractor to be tested.

Thousands of welfare recipients will be tested for drugs.

The Government reportedly wants to help people get off drugs and into jobs and not have police involved. Sites that registered high drug use during national wastewater testing will be targeted for the random trial. The sites, to be unveiled this year, are likely to include Townsville.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Sky News yesterday the policy aimed to help welfare recipients.

“If they test positive, if they do have that dependency, then they get the cashless debit card, they get management – cash management, income management is very important – and also will get the support, access to rehab to get them off the substance abuse,’’ he said.

“Because frankly, unless they do that, they can’t get a job and the best form of welfare, after all, is a job.

“The object of welfare is, as far as possible, to provide a safety net to enable people to get back into the workforce.

“That’s what Australians want to do and so addressing substance abuse is helping them.”

Labor health spokeswoman Catherine King said the policy had shortcomings.

“We know for a start that compulsory rehab has a pretty high failure rate,’’ Ms King said.

“We also know that there is an incredible shortage of both rehabilitation and treatment beds. So … where is the money for new rehabilitation and treatment beds across the country?”

With comments -

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/na...e/news-story/ee675a0d975dbd0e636f243176acb2fe

 

[poledriver]

Here's How The Welfare Drug Tests Will Work

"This idea doesn't have a good record."

CANBERRA -- It was one of the smaller programs announced in Tuesday's budget, but the one that has caused the biggest firestorm of controversy. A trial program to drug test 5000 recipients of Youth Allowance and Newstart in three as-yet-undisclosed locations from January 2018, with a positive result for cannabis, ecstasy or methamphetamines to push the welfare recipient onto the cashless debit card income quarantining measure.

The plan has been met with some praise from right-wing sources for tackling "drug addicts" and "dole bludgers", but far more criticism from Labor and the Greens, social service providers and drug experts. Cassandra Goldie, from the Australian Council of Social Services, told Channel 9 "This is about picking on you know people who are on social security."

Dr Alex Wodak, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, told HuffPost Australia he opposed the program.

"We're not doing something that has a proven track record. We're doing something that has been tried before and hasn't worked well," he said.

"It's expensive, the amount of money to be spent per positive case is very high. This idea doesn't have a good record."

The drug testing trial was announced and briefly outlined at the very end of Scott Morrison's budget speech, literally the very last program announced in the 14-page address. It garnered just two lines in the speech, a "modest drug testing trial for 5000 new welfare recipients" who would "be placed on the cashless debit card" and "subjected to further tests and possible referral for treatment" if they test positive. That's it.

Far more information was outlined in a follow-up press release from social services minister Christian Porter, which detailed that it would be only those on Newstart and Youth Allowance payments who would be included in the trial. No other welfare payment -- for instance, the age pension, carer's or widow's allowance -- would be included. There will be three locations included in the two-year trial, which will include "random drug testing" for cannabis, ecstasy and methamphetamines. But as some pointed out, perhaps the "random" testing won't be so random, with the program also to include "a data-driven profiling tool... to identify relevant characteristics that indicate a higher risk of substance abuse issues."

Those who test positive "will be placed on welfare quarantining to help them to stabilise their finances and reduce the cash available to spend on drugs," Porter said in the release. Those who test positive multiple times would be referred to medical professionals for "assessment" and "appropriate treatment".

We asked department officials on Tuesday whether welfare clients using medical cannabis with a prescription would be penalised under this system, but were assured that people with a legitimate explanation would be excused from punishment.

Many -- including senators Jacqui Lambie, Sam Dastyari and Sarah Hanson-Young -- suggested politicians should be drug tested too, while Greens senator Nick McKim suggested alcohol breathalysers for politicians before making casting votes in the parliament.

CONT -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/05/10/heres-how-the-welfare-drug-tests-will-work_a_22078785/

 

[Crankinit]

Jesus. I've never seen so much ignorance about substance dependence packed into one page. I'm not even sure where to start.

Even America gave up on this after it proved to be an astounding failure.

What the fuck is wrong with our government?

 

[zephyr]

Scott Morrison is very religious and has pushed his religious views on the public via his political position.


He admitted as much on A current Affair recently.

He wants social reform but done his way.

He will never support gay marriage and will never change his stance on drug issues.

Its also very likely according to his fellow politicians that this man will be our next prime minister so I doubt police will be kept out of this when that happens.

 

[Soso78]

its a complex situation but if people fail drug test at work they can get the sack.
The hard part will be identifying the lazy bums on drugs that could be working but just can't be arsed and people with more serious problems.

 

[zephyr]

Getting rhe economy pumping and opening up more job opportunities is what needs doing .

Politicians turn up drunk at parliament all the time. Sack them and drug alcohol test their super.