What changes are being made for young parents receiving Parenting Payment?

The Teenage Parent trial is one of the measures announced as part of the 2011–12 Federal Budget package, Building Australia’s Future Workforce. The trial provides new services, opportunities and responsibilities to boost the educational attainment, child wellbeing and functioning of families with young children in select locations. Teenage parents in the trial are supported to undertake education or training leading to the attainment of a Year 12 or equivalent qualification; and to participate in activities that focus on the health and early childhood development of their children. The trial commences on 1 January 2012 in ten identified Local Government Areas and will continue until 30 June 2015.

Young parents eligible for the trial include those who:

• are receiving Parenting Payment,
• aged 19 years or under,
• have a child under 6 years of age,
• are residing in a trial location or they relocate to a trial location, and
• have not attained Year 12 or an equivalent qualification (Certificate II).

Why is the Australian Government making these changes?

The Australian Government is committed to improving social inclusion and building Australia's future workforce. At any point in time there are around 11 000 teenage parents on Parenting Payment in Australia and the vast majority of these of these do not have a Year 12 or equivalent qualification. Evidence shows that low education attainment and parenting responsibilities at a very young age contribute to the risk of long term welfare dependency. The Teenage Parent trial is designed to increase the level of educational attainment among teenage parents and to ensure that the children of teenage parents have the best chances in life.

What are the identified Local Government Areas and why were these sites selected for the trials?

Australia is experiencing a ‘patchwork economy’ where not all Australians are benefiting from the strong growth being experienced across some parts of Australia. Some families are experiencing acute disadvantage, high unemployment and low levels of education and job skills. For these reasons, ten locations have been selected to trial new approaches to helping these families, with the Government focussing additional services in the Local Government Areas of Playford (SA), Hume (Vic), Shepparton (Vic), Burnie (Tas), Bankstown (NSW), Wyong (NSW), Shellharbour (NSW), Rockhampton (Qld), Logan (Qld), and Kwinana (WA).

The indicators used to select the 10 locations include:

• High unemployment rates
• High proportions of population on income support
• An increase in unemployment beneficiaries over the past year
• High proportions of unemployment beneficiaries in receipt of payment for over 12 months; and
• Low educational level attainment.

What will teen parents be required to do?

As trial participants, teenage parents are required to attend regular six monthly interviews with Centrelink from the time their youngest child is 6 months of age. Specially trained Centrelink Customer Service Advisors will discuss locally available support to assist with parenting needs; options for study or training; early childhood health, learning and development support services; and any barriers to participating in the trial.

When their youngest child is 12 months of age, the teenage parent and Centrelink Advisor will discuss and formulate a Participation Plan which identifies the parent’s educational and family goals and activities that will help to reach those goals. The plan will be individually tailored and take into account the parent’s circumstances and capacity to undertake the activities. The Participation Plan must include one education or training activity that assists the parent in working towards attaining Year 12 or an equivalent qualification and one other activity relating to parenting or life skills; or early childhood education for the parent’s child(ren). There is no requirement for a parent to undertake job search as part of this trial.

Is there an hourly requirement the teenage parent must meet?

While there is no minimum hourly obligation the teenage parent must undertake each week, the parent is required to comply with the individual course requirements and attend the hours required by their chosen education activity. Similarly, the parent will be required to attend at the times specified by the organisers of their parenting or life skills activities, for example, if a playgroup meets weekly, they will be expected to attend weekly.

What about young parents with complex needs or who have immediate or ongoing barriers to undertaking education?

Specially trained Centrelink Advisors will work with parents to ensure that they understand the parent’s circumstances and their capacity to undertake any activities. Where a parent may not be able to participate, the Centrelink Advisor will consider if an exemption is appropriate. This would include short term exemptions of up to 13 weeks for temporary incapacity, pregnancy and special circumstances, and longer term special family circumstances exemptions of up to 12 months. Teenage Parents who have barriers to undertaking education and training, such as unstable housing will be supported to address these barriers prior to an expectation of re-entering education.

What support systems will be in place to assist young parents to undertake study?

The Government understands that teenage parents require additional support services as they carry the weight of caring for a young child while still growing up themselves. To this end, more services have been made available in the ten locations. Specially trained Centrelink Advisors will support teenage parents in accessing services and formulating their participation plans. The extension of the Youth Connections program will support teenage parents to remain engaged or re-engage with education and/or training through individualised case management. This would primarily be delivered through one-to-one assistance, with a possible combination of group assistance, access to external mentoring programs/services, advocacy and/or referrals to external support or specialist services.

Additional Communities for Children programs have been introduced in all the trial locations and are available to families with a youngest child under the age of 12. The Communities for Children programs work towards ensuring that children have the best possible start in life by focusing on well-targeted early intervention approaches that bring about positive outcomes for young children and their families; identifying ways to better coordinate and link in with existing services programs; have a role in strengthening services in their community and assist in addressing the needs of individual families. Activities that the Communities for Children providers may offer include:

• home visits
• early learning and literacy programs
• early development of social and communication skills
• parenting and family support programs
• child nutrition; and
• community events to celebrate the importance of children, families and the early years.

In addition, as part of the Building Australia’s Future Workforce measure, vocational training places will be provided through a National Partnership from 2012. If vocational training above Certificate level II is identified as the best pathway for teenage parents, access to a government subsidised training place in an appropriate course will be guaranteed by State and Territory Governments.

What happens if the teen parent cannot meet the requirements?

Teenage parents are advised to contact Centrelink as soon as they become aware that they will have difficulty in meeting any of their requirements. Centrelink staff will work closely with teenage parents to assist them in meeting their requirements; altering appointment times or amending the activities within their plan.

Where a parent fails to either attend an appointment or sign a participation plan without a satisfactory reason, they will have their income support payment suspended until they do so. Once they comply with these requirements, their Parenting Payment will be reinstated with full back pay.

Where a parent fails to undertake the activities set out in the Participation Plan without a satisfactory reason, they will discuss this with the Centrelink Advisor at their next appointment. They will also have to attend additional fortnightly appointments with Centrelink for a maximum of six weeks to help them re-engage with their agreed activities. If the parent still does not undertake the activities set out in the plan, they will have their income support payment suspended until they start to engage in activities. It’s important to note that Family Assistance payments will not be affected by any suspension. The Government considers this is striking the right balance between incentives and responsibilities and will monitor the impact of these arrangements throughout the trial.

What happens if the parent cannot find suitable child care or does not want to put their child into child care?

No parent in this trial will be forced to put their child into child care. Centrelink staff will work closely with young parents to provide information about child care options in their area, including the availability of child care. More information about childcare vacancies is located on the Mychild site.

Where a parent chooses to access child care, the Government provides a number of payments to families to assist with the costs of child care. These include Child Care Benefit and the Child Care Rebate. The Jobs Education Training Child Care Fee Assistance (JETCCFA) program provides extra help with the cost of approved child care for teenage parents who wish to access quality child care while they are studying or training. This means most parents will pay no more than 10 cents per hour while they are doing approved activities such as study, training or work.

More information on helping young parents can be found on the Centrelink website.