Compulsory Income Management in Australia and New Zealand: More Harm than Good? (Research in Comparative and Global Social Policy)

More than a decade on from their conception, this book reflects on the consequences of income management policies in Australia and New Zealand. Drawing on a three-year study, it explores the lived experience of those for whom core welfare benefits and services are dependent on government conceptions of 'responsible' behaviour. It analyses whether officially claimed positive intentions and benefits of the schemes are outweighed by negative impacts that deepen the poverty and stigma of marginalised and disadvantaged groups. This novel study considers the future of this form of welfare conditionality and addresses wider questions of fairness and social justice. Front Cover Half-title Series Compulsory Income Management in Australia and New Zealand: More Harm than Good? Copyright information Table of contents List of abbreviations About the authors Acknowledgements Series preface 1 Framing welfare conditionality Introduction Conditionality and compulsory income management Context and concepts The comparative Income Management study What follows Conclusion 2 Why Income Management? Introduction Analysing Income Management within the broader policy field The emergence of Compulsory Income Management in Australia, 2006 to 2007 Extending Compulsory Income Management in Australia, 2007 to 2021 The emergence of Compulsory Income Management in New Zealand, 2012 to 2014 Extending and consolidating Compulsory Income Management in New Zealand, 2015 to 2021 Conclusion 3 Barriers to implementing Compulsory Income Management Introduction Implementation problems in Australia Application of technology without consumer input Poor communication about Compulsory Income Management Inadequate community consultation Implementation problems in New Zealand Empowering or coercing youth? Organisational design flaws Systems and technological failures Towards co-design and genuine developmental processes Conclusion 4 Identity and emotion Introduction Socio-economic disadvantage and wellbeing Infantilisation (In)dependence Bureaucratic encounters Discursive positioning Stigmatisation Public discourse Public markers Social and emotional wellbeing Community involvement Emotional wellbeing Stability and capability Identity and self-worth Conclusion 5 Procedural, consumer and contractual rights, and access to justice Introduction Consumer and contractual rights of welfare recipients under Income Management Australia’s BasicsCard Australia’s Cashless Debit Card New Zealand’s Payment Card Exit, exemption, complaints and review BasicsCard Cashless Debit Card Money Management Citizenship, autonomy and access to social justice in the welfare state Conclusion 6 Resistance and reform: individual and collective agency Introduction Theorising resistance Barriers to open resistance Exclusion from community consultation Depleted socio-emotional resources Resisting by circumventing restrictions Resisting by advancing counter-narratives Asserting deservingness Educating others Resisting through collective action Diverging paths Building communities of support Protest and lobbying Conclusion 7 Voluntary Income Management and financial education Introduction Economic (in)security and Income Management Voluntary Income Management A role for financial education? Financial education under Income Management The evidence base for, and normative assumptions of, financial literacy education Conclusion 8 Recalibrating social security and reimagining work Introduction Bottom-up perspectives on the conditionality narrative Rethinking social security, value and the drivers of change What would a fundamental reset look like? Conclusion References Index Back Cover Drawing on first-hand accounts from those living under the systems, this novel study explores the impact of Australia and New Zealand's income management policies and asks whether they have caused more harm than good.