The attack on our welfare system has intensified by the axing of the Sole Parenting Payment, forcing single parents onto the totally inadequate Newstart allowance.

The Government claims that moving 110,581 sole parents onto lower income support payments when their youngest child turns eight will push them into paid jobs. However, 60% of those to be impoverished are already in part-time paid work and will lose more than $100 per week.

There is no evidence this shift to Newstart increased sole parent’s workforce participation over the past 5 years. In fact, it is the reverse. Similar cuts imposed on 40,000 more recent sole parents since 2006 have already failed to increase their paid work involvement. So why continue this policy?

Sole parents face potential bias from employers, who know they are likely to need time off to their children’s needs. Often therefore sole parents are only offered casual jobs (often low paid) that lack predictability, have no security or possibilities of promotion. Research shows that bad jobs damage parental confidence and skills. Well-paid jobs that fit children’s time needs are scarce[i].

Some facts you need to know,

The cutback on income hasn’t increased workforce participation. The most recent ABS family workforce data^[ii] showed the employment rates of sole parents from 2005-2011. The annual changes over those 5 years rise and fall in ways that cannot be correlated with the policy changes, let alone allow anyone to claim for causality.

The employment rates for those on Newstart are much lower than for those on parenting payments. DEEWR statistics show that 60% of those left on parenting payments already were employed in paid work against approximately 25% of those who moved onto Newstart.

The official requirement is that sole parents take on 30 paid hours per fortnight. At $17 per hour, just over the minimum wage, this would contribute $510 extra per fortnight. However, this is not the net income, as the Newstart payment reduces by 40 cents per dollar earned over $62 per fortnight. This contrasts with a parenting payment threshold of $176 plus $24 per extra child, before the 40 cent cuts in.

So now out of a fortnightly $510, a sole parent now nets only $369.80, a loss of around $114, plus the basic $130 difference in the base payments. Out of this sum come the costs of any care, the related costs of going to work and the loss of time for child related activities for little over $10 per hour.

Get informed + Get active!

You can act! You can learn more! You can be vocal! You can connect with the community leading for change.

Here is how we are starting:

The Women’s Electoral Lobby and the F Collective are holding a forum:

Why pick on Sole Parents? Sexism, welfare and bad policy decisions

Thursday April 11^th, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

At the Wesley Centre, Level 3 220 Pitt Street Sydney.

Come along to this forum and talk about the role of the feminist movement in fighting for a decent social safety net, and what we can do to create change before the election!

Cassandra Goldie will be speaking about ACOSS’ appeal to the United Nations to challenge the Sole Parenting Payment cuts.

Speakers include:

• Amanda Parkinson – journalist and F Collective member
• Beth Goldblatt – Research Fellow at UNSW Social Policy Research Centre
• Dr Cassandra Goldie – CEO Australian Council of Social Services
• Eva Cox – feminist activist, the Single Parents Action Group

Child minding: Let us know at thefcollective@gmail.com if you require child minding, and the age of your child.

To see the full event details click here.

Not in NSW? That’s okay. We want to hear from you! Contact: alustica@welnsw.org.au for information on reaching out in your local community.

Research provided by Eva Cox

At midday on Saturday 9 march over 300 people gathered at Town Hall square in Sydney for the annual International Women’s Day march. An amazing array of women and supporters came from all over Sydney to mark this important day.

A delegation from WEL NSW were in attendance, as were a huge delegation of women from Asian Women at Work who came to raise the profile of migrant women workers in Australia. Lots of Unions turned out to mark the day including the FSU, MUA, TWU, USU, United Voice and others.

Sole parents from Sydney were there to protest the Federal Government’s recent cuts to the Sole Parenting Payment, which leaves single parents on the inadequate Newstart allowance. The F Collective delegation were promoting the (joint WEL and F) forum on how these cuts to the welfare system disproportionately impact on women, and what can be done to address this in a federal election year.

Colectivo Mujer brought pink crosses to represent women who have lost their lives due to the femicide in Juarez, Mexico. Women’s Collectives from Sydney University and UNSW were there with banners, their year of activism is just getting started!

United Voice activists came to talk about their Big Steps campaign, which calls on the Federal Government to put more funding into the Early Childhood Education and Care sector in order to pay educators an equal wage.

The Women’s Abortion Action Coalition marched behind their banner, standing strong against Fred Nile’s recent attempts to undermine a woman’s right to choose in NSW. Representatives from the Older Women’s Network marched, reminding everyone of the vital role that older people play in our community.

Speakers addressed the crowd on a diverse range of issues from the rights of breastfeeding mothers, to equal pay, to human rights. The diversity and passion of women at the march was a powerful reminder of the breadth and depth of the Sydneyfeminist movement.

- Gabe Kavanagh

On Wednesday 17 October 2012, WEL NSW celebrated its 40th Anniversary at the Stranger’s Dining Room in Parliament House Sydney. We are very excited to share our photos from the evening with  you. You can view the full set on welnsw’s flickr account here. If you recognise yourself and others, send us an email and we will add your details to the photos.

WEL NSW 40th Anniversary Celebrations at Parliament House Sydney 17.10.12.
Photo courtesy of Jarrah Backhouse

An absolutely wonderful evening, Parliament House brimmed with feminist joy, story-telling, reconnection and an overwhelming air of regeneration.

This is what a feminist looks like. Sarah Dingle in conversation with three generations of WEL members: Wendy McCarthy, Jane Caro and Melanie Fernandez.

As part of our celebrations, WEL NSW members put together a video reflecting on the past 40 years and looking to the future.

The stories told by some of the founding members of WEL are inspiring. The visions for the future demand action and demonstrate that newer generations of feminists truly are carrying the torch of those that have come before us.

You can watch the full video here.

Jan Wood of Woodland Productions has also kindly put together a DVD of the evening. Jan has been collecting footage from various women’s events and of the feminist movement more broadly, for many years now and also has a regular show ‘Coffee Break’ on TVS. Her work is invaluable in documenting the evolution of feminism in Sydney. Send us an email if you are interested in a copy of the dvd. And check out Jan’s work here.

Feminism is alive and WEL. WEL NSW members. Photo courtesy of Jarrah Backhouse

The current momentum within the feminist movement in Australia is encouraging. There is no better time to get involved in the movement and WEL is a wonderful place to start. With the federal elections just around the corner, have your say as to the type of society you want to live in. You can join here.

WEL NCC Chair Helen L’Orange and friends. Photo courtesy of Jarrah Backhouse

Our wonderful newsletter committee put together a 40th Anniversary addition of WEL-Informed. In this publication, WEL NSW has attempted to ‘lift the veil’ of anonymity by naming as many of the women as possible who were involved in the first 12 months of WEL. These are the women on whose shoulders we are standing.

You can view the newsletter here: WEL-Informed Issue 415 40th Anniv_Oct12

Thank you to all who helped us celebrate this significant occasion. We has such fun, and are now full of inspiration for our work over the next 40 years. Please be in touch if you would like to get involved. As the wheels of time turn, and new faces emerge in the feminist movement alongside those women who have paved the way, let’s continue to demonstrate that feminism truly is alive and WEL.