This Hansard transcript deals with the
"Deahm Amendment" to the Social
Security Act passed in the Australian
Federal Parliament in March
1995
Wednesday March 1 1995 1:53 pm
Maggie Deahm (Member for Macquarie)
Ms Deahm: The (clause) that I want to spend
some time on is the
amendment regarding exchange trading systems.
This holds a particular
joy for me, because I raised this issue
with the Minister for Social
Security in 1993.
It is particularly gratifying to me to
find something that I
raised personally has now reached the
stage of being enshrined in
legislation. In fact, when the minister
was going through this bill
with the caucus community services committee
and he mentioned my
involvement, the member for Moreton (Mr
Gibson), said, "We will call
this the Deahm Amendment." I am very happy
to accept that.
The basic problem concerned people who
were involved in exchange
trading systems in my area and were dealing
with the Katoomba office
of the Department of Social Security -
which was being conscientious;
I am not criticising it in any way. Because
this scheme was so
prevalent in the area, social security
recipients were asked whether
they were involved in one of the schemes
and, if so, how much they had
earned in their credits under the program
- ecos, as they are called
in this particular area. Each eco was
then counted as a dollar of
income, so they lost their social security
benefits.
The local group, called LETS - the local
exchange and trading
system - wrote to the Minister. The letter
reads:
LETS income does not pay rates, electricity,
gas or phone bills
or provide food and shelter on a livable
level. LETS does provide a
situation where unemployed people can
maintain their skill levels,
gain experience in new skill areas and
maintain a high level of self-
esteem which ensures a healthier lifestyle
and thus less strain on the
National Health Care System
Mr Ronaldson: Great system.
Ms Deahm: Thankyou. I am glad to hear
the the honourable member for
Ballarat thinks it is a good system, too.
I immediately took this
matter up with the Minister, who had a
discussion with people from the
LETS group, the Welfare Rights Association
and a number of other
groups who all added their contributions.
After some discussion, the
minister approved the dropping of this
practice. Now we see it coming
up in legislation.
One of the points made by the department
was that these people
were working in a formal situation but
they were not very different
from people who were working in an informal
situation; for example,
two people on sole parent benefits baby-sitting
for each other with no
money or credits being exchanged; they
were gaining a benefit and they
were doing some work in a sense. I am
glad to see that that has been
recognised.
In the Blue Mountains, where it is particularly
active, it came
out of a group know as the Coalition Against
the Recession which
started up a few years ago. Various groups
were formed to look at how
the local people could help those who
were suffering under the
recession. It included food collections
where bins were placed outside
the local supermarket. People could by
an extra item and put it in the
bin so that it could be distributed. The
LETS program is one of the
more permanent programs to come out of
that initiative.
I have only the 1993 statistics, but at
that time there were 170
LETS programs nation-wide. The Blue Mountains
group has 1500 members
and the monthly turnover was 25,000 ecos.
As I said, we count an eco
as the equivalent of approximately $1.
I understand there was no
problem with people having ecos credited
as income for tax purposes.
Fundamentally, no-one has objected to
that.
The great thing about the scheme is that
it encompasses a wide
range of workers including builders, plumbers,
accountants, people
doing tax returns, baby-sitters and lawn
mowers. It is extremely
beneficial. In my electorate the LET scheme
has undertaken what is
called a buddy scheme. Established members
introduce and help new
members in getting used to how the scheme
works. They teach them the
ropes, and, perhaps, teach them new skills.
A lot of people say to me, "I can't afford
to employ someone to
mow my lawn. I can't do it myself because
I am not physically able. I
can't get this sort of help under home
and community care because
there are higher priorities." The LETS
program has responded to this
by introducing what is called a community
service fund. This invites
members of the group to donate either
money, ecos or time to a fund
from which the services can be provided
for people in need -
particularly the frail, the aged and disabled.
So, I have been able to
put the little old lady who cannot mow
her lawn on to members of the
LETS group and they have been able to
do it for her.
The LETS group has also cooperated with
a group known as Mission
Employment. This is a skill share operation
which is run by the Sydney
City Mission in my electorate. They started
a group called LET'S Work
to promote the scheme to people who have
been recently retrenched. As
many of us know, when people are retrenched
their initial thought is,
"That's fine. I will have a little holiday."
However, they start
looking around for jobs and when they
find nothing, their self-esteem
drops, their confidence drops, and they
are put in a position where
they do not find it very easy to go out
and get work. Of course, their
skills also drop. LET'S Work, together
with the LETS group and Mission
Employment, is there to get those people
moving and also to teach them
some of the skills that could earn them
some ecos and keep them in
work while looking for full-time employment.
The amendment to this bill removes the
provision requiring that
kind of exchange work to be counted in
the income test for social
security. However there are certain restrictions.
Firstly, the normal
activity test requires members to continue
to look for appropriate
work. They cannot say, "We are doing this
for a living." They have to
be looking for work. Secondly, cash amounts
are not exempt. If they
happen to get cash for any of those jobs,
they must declare it.
Thirdly, the social security secretary
must be satisfied that the
system is a local community based system,
the primary purpose of which
is to help persons maintain their labour
skills and keep them in touch
with the labour market. It is not run
with a view to making a profit.
Even with those requirements - the LETS
group is certainly happy
with those requirements - we have gained
a victory in this case. I am
very proud of the LETS program. There
are several in my electorate and
the members do a wonderful job. I was
glad to hear the member for
Ballarat endorse that.
Mr Ronaldson:- Yes, I have one in my electorate.
They do a wonderful
job.
Ms Deahm:- Thank you, I am glad to hear
it. I support the issues in
the bill. I do not think it appropriate
to go through each one of them
- that would be very boring. I just want
to put on record my pleasure
at seeing something that I lobbied for
come to fruition. I also put on
record my praise for and thanks to the
LETS group for the great work
it is doing.
No opposition to this amendment was recorded
in the ensuing debate.
LEGISLATION
Division 18 -- Exchange Trading Systems
Income test definitions:
42. Section 8 of the Principal Act is
amended:
(a) by adding at the end of subsection
(8):
"(zl) if a person is a member of an approved
exchange
trading system -- an amount credited to
the person's account for the
purposes of the scheme in respect of any
goods and services provided
by the person to another member.
Note: For "approved exchange trading system"
see subsections (9)
and (10).";
(b) by adding at the end:
"(9) An Exchange Trading System is an
arrangement between a
number of persons ("members") under which
each member may obtain goods
or services from another member for consideration
that is wholly or
partly in kind rather than in cash. Each
member has, for the purposes
of the arrangement, an account:
(a) to which is credited:
(i) the amount representing the value
of any goods or
services provided by the members to another
member;
or
(ii) if the goods or services were partly
paid for in cash -
- the amount referred to in subparagraph
(i) less the amount so paid
in cash; and
(b) to which is debited:
(i) the amount representing the value
of any goods or
services supplied to the member by another
member, or
(ii) if the goods or services were partly
paid for in cash -
- the amount referred to in subparagraph
(i) less the amount so paid
in cash."
"(10) An Exchange Trading System is an
approved exchange trading
system if the Secretary is satisfied that:
(a) it is a local community-based system;
and
(b) its primary purpose is to help persons
maintain their labor
skills and keep them in touch with the
labour market; and
(c) it is not a system run by a person
or organisation for
profit."