Social Security Journal History of retirement Church and state roles in Australian welfare provision Love or work – wage or pension Flexible retirement Social Security Notes – new policies and programs Book reviews Social Security Statistics Project Notes – new research listings Details about new books and reports Selective bibliography on social security issues SOCIAL SECURITY JOURNAL JUNE 1996 ã Commonwealth of Australia 1996 ISBN 0 644 36051 8 This work is copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale. Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission of the Australian Government Publishing Service, GPO Box 84, Canberra, ACT, 2601. The opinions expressed by contributors in the Social Security Journal do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Social Security or the Minister for Social Security and, of course, cannot be taken in any way as expressions of government policy. The Social Security journal is published twice yearly and contributions are most welcome. Intending contributors are asked to contact the Managing Editor for an authors' guide on preferred length and style requirements. Intending authors should note that the guidelines were revised significantly in late 1994 and that not all styles and formats that were used in previous issues are appropriate guides to the new standard. As this publication has a widespread readership, it would be appreciated if articles submitted are written in plain, non-technical language. Information from authors about forthcoming books and reports on income support and related research is also welcome. Wherever possible, timely reviews of relevant new works are included in the journal. Contributions should be forwarded to: The Managing Editor, Social Security journal, Information and Public Relations Branch, Customer Service Division, Department of Social Security, Box 7788, Canberra Mail Centre, ACT, 2610. Telephone: (06) 244 6046. Facsimile: (06) 244 7999. Editor-in-Chief: Dr Jeff Harmer. Managing Editor: Mr Ian Vandenbergh. Produced by the Australian Government Publishing Service CONTENTS Social Security Journal, June 1996 Major Articles Professor Sol Encel, 'Retirement ages and pension ages -a complex history' 3 The Right Reverend Michael B Challen, 'The changing roles of church and state in Australian welfare provision' 26 Doug Kentwell, 'Love or work - wage or pension' 32 Nigel Patterson and Tammy Wolffs, 'Flexible retirement: Social and economic expectations for older workers' 43 Social Security Notes Ian Warman, 'Sole Parent Pension reviews' 65 Cheryl David, 'Best practice and continuous improvement in the Department of Social Security' 68 Susan Edgerley, 'The use of market research in developing the Department of Social Security's customer information products' 76 Kate Chan and Susan Baker, 'Parenting Allowance' 83 Book Reviews Old age - an international perspective: The World Bank, Averting the Old Age Crisis: Policies to protect the old and promote growth Reviewer: Elizabeth Webb 97 Don't send them away to die in another country...: Susan Woenne-Green, They might have to drag me like a bullock: The Tjilpi Pampa Tjutaku Project Reviewer: Julia Bourke 101 Who gets what and why?: Michael Wearing and Rosemary Berreen (eds), Welfare and Social Policy in Australia: The distribution of advantage Reviewer: Philip Brown 106 Has economic restructuring in Australia improved conditions for women?: Anne Edwards and Susan Magarey (eds), Women in a Restructuring Australia: Work and Welfare Reviewer: Susan Donath 111 iii Social Security Statistics Statistical tables: 1. Pensioners: Pension type, Australia, December 1985 to December 1995 118 2. Pensioners: State by pension type by sex, December 1995 120 3. Family Payments: Customers and children by family payment type, Australia, December 1992 to December 1995 124 4. Family Payments: State by family payment type by sex, December 1995 125 5. Parenting Allowance (a): State by sex, December 1995 126 6. Allowees: Allowance type, Australia, December 1991 to December 1995 128 7. Job Search and Newstart Allowees: Summary population, Australia, December 1995 129 8. Jobseekers receiving Job Search or Newstart Allowance: State by allowance type, December 1995 130 9. Jobseekers receiving Job Search or Newstart Allowance (a) by age and sex, Australia, December 1995 131 10. Jobseekers receiving Job Search or Newstart Allowance (a) by activity test status and sex, Australia, December 1995 133 11. Jobseekers receiving Job Search or Newstart Allowance (a) paid in the fortnight to 15 December 1995 by fortnightly earnings and sex, Australia 134 12. Other Allowees: State by allowance type, December 1995 136 13. Partner Allowance (a): State, December 1995 136 Graphs and charts 1. Age, Disability Support and Sole Parent Pensioners, December 1985 to December 1995 119 2. Family Payments by type and State, December 1995 126 3. Job Search, Newstart and Sickness Allowance and Special Benefit, December 1991 to December 1995 129 4. Jobseekers receiving Job Search or Newstart Allowance by State, December 1995 130 5. Jobseekers receiving Job Search Allowance by age and sex, December 1995 132 6. Jobseekers receiving Newstart Allowance by age and sex, December 1995 132 iv Project Notes Editor's note 139 Current and planned research 140 · Retirement incomes 140 · Income support for people with disabilities 141 · Income support for families 144 · Labour market programs 145 · Assistance for young people 147 · Income support research - other 148 New books and reports 152 Income support feedback 162 Selective bibliography on social security issues 167 v MAJOR ARTICLES Emeritus Professor Sol Encel, 'Retirement ages and pension ages - a complex history' The Right Reverend Michael B Challen, 'The changing roles of church and state in Australian welfare provision' Doug Kentwell, 'Love or work wage or pension' Nigel Patterson and Tammy Wolffs, 'Flexible retirement: Social and economic expectations for older workers' SOCIAL SECURITY JOURNAL JUNE 1996 RETIREMENT AGES AND PENSION AGES - A COMPLEX HISTORY Emeritus Professor Sol Encel Honorary Research Associate, Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales Introduction Throughout history, there have been divergent views about the 'right' age to retire. Institutionalised retirement at or about age 65 is a very recent historical development, linked with industrialisation, bureaucratisation and demographic change. Pension schemes and retirement age show wide variations between countries and are always embedded in a specific political, social and economic context, although the state of the labour market appears to be a constant factor. There are also wide variations in relation to differential retirement and pension ages for men and women, and the reasons for differentiation are obscure and confused. The recent abolition of compulsory retirement by most Australian governments, the introduction of occupational superannuation across the entire workforce and the equalisation of pension ages, reflect changing views about workforce participation, ageing, retirement and pension policy. In the past ten years, the move to abolish compulsory retirement and ban age discrimination has made rapid legislative progress in Australia. One of the first official reports to recommend in this direction was the Henderson poverty inquiry (Commission of Inquiry into Poverty, Final Report, 1976:242), but it was not until 1989 that South Australia amended its anti-discrimination laws to include age, followed shortly afterwards by Western Australia and Queensland. The situation at the date of writing (February 1996) is as follows: Age - date (i.e. date of proclamation) of introduction into antidiscrimination legislation: · South Australia - 1991 · Queensland - 1992 · Western Australia - 1993 · New South Wales - 1994 · Northern Territory - 1994 · ACT - 1996 · Victoria - 1996 · Tasmania - no action 3 Compulsory retirement - abolition (dates given are, again, dates of proclamation) · New South Wales - 1990 · Queensland - 1994 · South Australia - 1994 · Northern Territory - 1994 · Western Australia - 1995 · ACT - 1996 · Victoria - 1996 · Tasmania - no action At the Commonwealth level, moves to change the law have been afoot since the passage of the Industrial Relations Reform Act in 1993, which includes a provision that age cannot be used as grounds for termination of employment. A report by the Public Service Act Review Committee in 1994 recommended the abolition of compulsory retirement in the Australian Public Service (APS), following an unsuccessful attempt to introduce a private member's Bill in the Senate in 1992. A report prepared for the Parliamentary Research Service criticised the Government for its slow response to Parliamentary and outside interest in the issue (Bennett and Twomey, 1995). However, in October 1995, the Attorney-General announced that compulsory retirement in the APS would be abolished as part of the enactment of a new Public Service Act in 1996. The announcement stressed that delay had been due to the need for a suitable workers' compensation scheme (Johns, 1995). These legislative acts suggest an important cultural shift, with the effect of detaching the phenomena of ageing, retirement and pension eligibility from one another, after a century in which they have been virtually synonymous. Of course, changes in the law are only the first