The Commonwealth Government is committed to ensuring Australians engaged in terrorist activities are not receiving taxpayer funded welfare payments.
The Government will introduce legislation to ensure welfare payments can be promptly stopped for people identified by national security agencies as being involved in extremist conduct.
Currently, welfare payments can only be suspended or cancelled if the recipient no longer meets social security eligibility rules, such as participation requirements, and residence or portability qualifications.
The new legislation will enable the Department of Human Services to cancel a person’s welfare payment if it receives advice that a person has been assessed as a serious threat to Australia’s national security.
This advice will be provided by the relevant Ministers — the Attorney-General, the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.
Ministers will exercise discretion and take into account all relevant factors, including advice from national security agencies, before requesting cancellation of welfare payments.
In addition, the Government will ensure relevant agencies work more closely together to share information on issues of national security where it relates to cancelling welfare to people who are a threat.
These new measures will ensure Australian taxpayers are not financing people known to be members of, or working with, terrorist organisations.
Australians travelling to Syria, Iraq, and other conflict zones to engage in, or support, terrorist activities are committing criminal offences.
Our welfare system already allows payments to be suspended or cancelled if people don’t meet their obligations.
This measure is based on the same principle. It is designed to make sure taxpayers’ money is not being used to undermine Australia’s national security.
16 August 2014