Submission – ParentsNext Program Inquiry

ACTCOSS made a submission to the Federal inquiry into Workforce Australia Employment services regarding the ParentsNext program. Our submission focused on highlighting the financial and emotional harms that the Targeted Compliance Framework (TCF) has inflicted on sole parents in receipt of income support payments. We recommend that the Government dissolve the program and replace the punitive, mandatory aspects imposed by the TCF with a variety of voluntary supports for parents who choose to seek education or employment. We also urge the government to broadly acknowledge through policy decisions that caring for children is work, and that parents and children inherently deserve to be safe, healthy and supported.