Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Shirley Johnson: Youth Justice Consultant critiques the Government's new benefit sanctions scheme

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Shirley Johnson: Youth Justice Consultant critiques the Government's new benefit sanctions scheme · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Beneficiary bashing or reasonable expectations. The government has introduced tougher
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  Speaker 1: rules and harsher penalties for beneficiaries. Job Seekers will have
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  Speaker 1: to reapply for the benefit every six months, and a
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  Speaker 1: new traffic light system which will indicate whether you're complying
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  Speaker 1: with the rules that came into a false yesterday. There
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  Speaker 1: will also be new sanctions like money management. It means
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  Speaker 1: that half of a person's benefit could go on an
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  Speaker 1: electronic payment card which you can only use for things
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  Speaker 1: like essentials like groceries and clothing, but only if they
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  Speaker 1: break the rules to begin with, don't meet the obligations, right,
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  Speaker 1: So what does this mean for particularly young job seekers?
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  Speaker 1: Youth Justice consultant advocate Sherley Johnson's with me now, Sheery,
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  Speaker 1: good morning.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning.
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  Speaker 1: So I suppose there's two Well, there's obviously two arguments here,
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  Speaker 1: But my question to you would be what is unreasonable
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  Speaker 1: about the expectations?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you're right, obviously we need some accountability, but there
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  Speaker 2: always is a bit of an undertone about people who
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  Speaker 2: find themselves on benefits for whatever reason something the people
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  Speaker 2: who you can't trust, so therefore you've got to manage
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  Speaker 2: their money. And it's a sense that they're sitting at
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  Speaker 2: home English and on this money which we are giving them.
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  Speaker 2: It's just not the reality. We exist in a recessionary
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  Speaker 2: times for adults finding it hard to get to work,
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  Speaker 2: and so if you look at adult unemployments going up,
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  Speaker 2: young people it's always about double of that. So for
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  Speaker 2: them to get work, it's really tough times at the moment.
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  Speaker 2: And I don't think punishments it's the way to activate
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  Speaker 2: this in any way at all.
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  Speaker 1: But so let's be clear, you don't get punished for
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  Speaker 1: just being on the benefit. You only get punished if
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  Speaker 1: it and you don't even get punished if you're on
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  Speaker 1: the benefit and you can't find a job. You get
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  Speaker 1: punished if you don't meet the obligations right, and there
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  Speaker 1: are levels of punishment and traffic light systems, etc.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think even that idea, like i'd like to
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  Speaker 2: believe that every young person has a casework that they're working,
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  Speaker 2: how you wouldn't know very clearly how they're going in
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  Speaker 2: terms of trying to get a job in supporting them.
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  Speaker 2: The idea that every six month scene you've got to
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  Speaker 2: reapply it really is a bit of a sense of punishment.
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  Speaker 2: Nothing is more terrifying than him to go into an
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  Speaker 2: organization like MSD to apply to see whether you've got
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  Speaker 2: any more money again, and like, I just think some
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  Speaker 2: of those steps are just unnecessary because one of the
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  Speaker 2: key things that we've found over the years in terms
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  Speaker 2: of turning things around for young people, because a lot
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  Speaker 2: of young people are on benefits kind of either don't
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  Speaker 2: have the skills, have been through a lot of traumas
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  Speaker 2: that have lost tufts and confidence both in themselves and
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  Speaker 2: the system as quality relationships are really important so that
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  Speaker 2: they rebuild themselves and anything that gets in the way
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  Speaker 2: of that is quite destructive. And none of this is
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  Speaker 2: new none, No, I know we have tried before where
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  Speaker 2: beneficiaries are only allowed to purchase whatever I've tried before
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  Speaker 2: where you know, you have to work to get the
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  Speaker 2: doll and they actually found that it didn't work. So
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  Speaker 2: it's kind of feels to me a little bit fullness
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  Speaker 2: to go back and redo what we know doesn't work
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  Speaker 2: when there are in fact a lot of programs out
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  Speaker 2: there that are working incredibly well.
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  Speaker 1: Surely thanks for your time that Shirley Johnson, she's the
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  Speaker 1: Youth Justice Consultant Advocate. Responding then to the government's changes
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  Speaker 1: on penalties and you know, criteria, et cetera. Sanctions.
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