You’ll Have to ‘Earn Points’ to Receive Centrelink Payments after 1 July

Welfare is getting gamified.

If you receive welfare payments from Centrelink, a big change is coming in July (and not a lot of people are happy about it).

Under the current system, you get paid by completing specific tasks and meeting certain obligations. Very soon, this will be replaced with a ‘points-based activation system’ (PBAS).

How will the new system work?

If you want to receive financial support from the government, you have to score 100 points every month.

These points are won by doing specific activities. For example, if you’re working part-time, you’ll score 15 points each week. Attending a job interview will score you 20.

A segment from the points values list via Jobsearch.gov.au

The reasoning is that people will have more ‘flexibility’ to earn points for various activities. But let’s hear how the news is really going down.

How are people reacting?

The idea of a gamified welfare system isn’t sitting right with some folks.

@Centrelink I am on jobseeker and I am terrified about the new point system. I am not in a position to be able to come up with 100 points a month, I have multiple permanent illnesses and no fixed address. I am terrified of losing my payment, what will happen if I can't make 100?

— povvo princess (@feral_flooze) June 7, 2022

My daughter had a phone interview with @Centrelink on Wednesday, but they never rang her. She got a message today to say her payment has been suspended because she didn't attend the interview. She tried to call them on 2 different numbers just now & both times, the robot hung up.

— Catherine (Cate/Cat) Perry ♿️ (@CatPurry9) June 6, 2022

Union and employment figureheads have also expressed their concerns.

Australian Council of Social Service deputy CEO Edwina MacDonald told Yahoo Finance that “requiring people who are already working 20 hours per week, or doing full-time Work for the Dole, to continue to complete points for other tasks is unnecessarily onerous.”

Jeremy Poxon from the Australian Unemployed Worker’s Union also raised the issue that the new system will punish people who aren’t very tech-savvy. “It’s another sort of digital tool and a different algorithm that’s going to say whether they get to eat that week or not,” he said.

What’s next?

Advocates are calling on the new Labor Government to delay the rollout. The PBAS was introduced as a trial in 2020 under a LNP-led Department of Education, Skills and Employment.

If the new system does go ahead as planned on 1 July, payment suspensions will be cancelled for the first month of the rollout so that people get a chance to get familiarised.

You can read more about how the point values on the DESE website here.

Header image: Centrelink Logo via Financial Framework (edited).