REPORT

SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM OF AUSTRALIA

Social security, in Australia, refers to a system of social welfare payments provided by
Australian Government to eligible Australian citizens, permanent residents, and limited
international visitors. These payments are almost always administered by Centre-link, a program
of Services Australia. In Australia, most payments are means tested.

History

Prior to 1900 in Australia, charitable assistance from benevolent societies, sometimes with
financial contributions from the authorities, was the primary means of relief for people not able
to support themselves. The 1890s economic depression and the rise of the trade unions and the
Labor parties during this period led to a movement for welfare reform. In 1900, the states of New
South Wales and Victoria enacted legislation introducing non-contributory pensions for those
aged 65 and over. Queensland legislated a similar system in 1907 before the Australian labor
Commonwealth government led by Andrew Fisher introduced a national aged pension under the
Invalid and Old-Aged Pensions Act 1908. A national invalid disability pension was started in
1910, and a national maternity allowance was introduced in 1912. During the Second World
War, Australia under a labor government created a welfare state by enacting national schemes
for: child endowment in 1941 (superseding the 1927 New South Wales scheme); a widows’
pension in 1942 (superseding the New South Wales 1926 scheme); a wife's allowance in 1943;
additional allowances for the children of pensioners in 1943; and unemployment, sickness, and
special benefits in 1945 (superseding the Queensland 1923 scheme).

The Social Services Legislation Amendment (Welfare Reform) Bill 2017 has changed several
aspects of social security in Australia, and has been given assent to as of 11 April 2018. It
includes a demerit-point system for not meeting welfare obligations. As of June 2018, former
social security recipients who owe a debt to Centre link will not be allowed to travel outside
Australia until they have repaid their debt, with interest.

Contemporary welfare attitudes

Current attitudes toward welfare in Australia can be separated into support for the welfare system
and support for welfare recipients. A multivariate analysis using canonical correlation analysis
identified five distinct profiles of welfare attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics. The
main attitude cluster was one toward support for the welfare system and welfare recipients.
Having received government welfare in the past strongly predicted a person supporting the
welfare system and its beneficiaries. The next most prominent attitude profile was summarized
as 'the welfare system is good but the people on it are lazy and dependent'. This attitude profile
was found among people receiving welfare payments that were either normative (e.g. the age
pension) or where there is little expectation that a person will return to work (e.g. disability
support pension). Overall, Australians hold more negative attitudes toward welfare recipients
than they do the welfare system. People with a history of receiving unemployment benefits tend
to have more negative welfare attitudes if they live in areas where other community members
have more negative attitudes.

Australia's welfare 2019

Australia's welfare 2019 is the AIHW's 14th biennial welfare report. It is a mix of short statistical
updates and longer discussions exploring selected topical issues. Australia’s welfare also serves
as a ‘report card’ on the welfare of Australians by looking at how we are faring as a nation.

Task 1
Provide a brief description of your report and introduce the area of
disadvantage that you explored in your research:
Despite Australia’s commitment to equity and opportunity for all, a student’s family background
still plays an unacceptably large role in determining his or her educational pathway. At all stages
of learning and development, there remains a strong and persistent link between a young
person’s socio-economic status and educational outcomes.

The evidence shows that Australia’s education system is not doing enough to address inequality
between the most and least advantaged young people, and some features of the system may
actually be widening the gap. Educational opportunity in Australia 2015 is one of the most
comprehensive data studies of Australia’s education system. It examines young people’s
progress on four key educational milestones, from the early years right through to young
adulthood.

Socio-economic disadvantage has a greater impact on educational opportunity than any other
factor considered in the study. Australia’s education system is not working well for the most
disadvantaged young people. For each milestone, the proportion of the most disadvantaged
students who meet the milestone is between 10 and 20 percentage points lower than for the
Australian population as a whole.

Students from the most disadvantaged groups who are off track at one milestone are less likely to
catch up again at another milestone.
 Differences in outcomes are compounded by differences in access to educational services. Socio-
economically disadvantaged students attend fewer hours of early childhood education, have
lower attendance at school, are more likely to leave school early, and are less likely to go to
university. The effects of socio-economic disadvantage persist well beyond school, reflected in
higher chances of not finding full-time work and not being in education and training.

In part, because Indigenous young people are over-represented in the most socio-economically
disadvantaged group, Indigenous students are significantly less likely to benefit from the
opportunities that the Australian education system has to offer.

Task 2
Prepare a table using a spreadsheet to show the data for the last decade (2010-
2020) in the area of your research. Make sure that the data in each column
has been labelled.
 Education Australia - statistics & facts

Australia’s education system, which attracts domestic and international students alike, possesses
an education structure which is comprised of two levels: school education and tertiary education.
School education begins with a pre-school or kindergarten program, differing from state to state,
which is followed by compulsory schooling. Compulsory schooling starts with primary
education which then transitions into secondary education, finishing at the age of 16 years old.
Attendance rates for compulsory education have remained relatively consistent throughout recent
years. Following secondary school is two years of further secondary education, which is required
in order to progress onto tertiary education. Tertiary education includes higher education and
vocational education and training.

 Socioeconomic effects on Education on Australia

Educational disadvantage is a significant factor in students’ educational outcomes. In Australia

there is a staggering level of inequality between outcomes for students from high socioeconomic
background and those from low socioeconomic background. Even attending a school with a high
or low average socioeconomic background can make a difference to how a student will perform
educationally.

 Family economic situation

In 2017–18, there were 489,000 low-income households with children aged 0–14. This
represented 24% of all low-income households in Australia. In low-income households with
children, the average real equalised disposable income was $558 per week.
In 2019, around 11% (289,000) of households with children aged 0–14 were jobless families—
households with dependent children and no paid employment. The economic wellbeing of
households plays a critical role in the health, education and self-esteem of children. Economic
disadvantage in the form of inadequate resources can adversely affect children’s social and
educational opportunities, as well as health outcomes in the short and long term (PC 2018; Ryan
et al. 2012). Economic disadvantage encompasses many factors, including low income, material
deprivation and social exclusion (PC 2018). These concepts often overlap; however it is possible
for a person or family to experience 1 element at a time. Economic disadvantage is also highly
dynamic, and most people only experience it for short periods. Only a small proportion of
Australians live in ongoing or persistent disadvantage (McLachlan et al. 2013).

For most families, regular adequate income is the single most important determinant of their
economic situation. Low income can make a family vulnerable to food insecurity and affect a
child’s diet and access to medical care (AIHW 2012; Rosier 2011). Low income can also impact
the safety of a child’s environment, the quality and stability of their care, and the provision of
appropriate housing, heating and clothing (AIHW 2012; Warren 2017). This section explores
economic disadvantage by focusing on the level and source of household income for households
with children aged 0–14.

Student enrolments by school affiliation, Australia, 2010-2020

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Government 2,406,495 2,445,130 2,483,802 2,524,865 2,558,169

Non-government Catholic 765,539 757,749 767,050 766,870 765,735

Student enrolments by school affiliation, Australia, 2010-2020

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Independen
529,857 540,304 547,374 557,490 569,930
t

Totals 3,694,101 3,750,973 3,798,226 3,849,225 3,893,834

State/territory Government educational agency Other relevant authorities

Australian Capital ACT Board of Senior

ACT Education Directorate
Territory Secondary Studies

NSW Education Standards

New South Wales NSW Department of Education
Authority

Northern Territory NT Department of Education

Queensland Curriculum and

Queensland QLD Department of Education
Assessment Authority

SACE Board of South

South Australia SA Department for Education
Australia

Office of Tasmanian
Tasmania Tasmanian Department of Education Assessment, Standards and
Certification

Victorian Department of Education and Victorian Curriculum and

Victoria
Training Assessment Authority

School Curriculum and

Western Australia WA Department of Education
Standards Authority
Task 3    Choose a suitable graphical representation to illustrate the
presented data in your report. Explain why you made this choice of graphic
display.

Line graphs are used as visual interface because they help to monitor chart trends
over short and long time frames. When there are minor improvements, line graphs
are preferable to bar graphs. Line diagrams can also be used to compare shifts in
more than one category during the same time frame. As a result, I can quickly track
the rise and fall of patterns that will be addressed in the next task.

Task 4 Use your graph to discuss the trends in the area of disadvantage that
you considered during this period of time.

According to my survey the time period from 1960-1980 in Australia faces a lot educational
disadvantages due to socioeconomic issues. And in house hold problems non- Hispanic Asian
face more a lot difficulties as compare to others.