
When Treasurer Scott Morrison announced the government’s plans to randomly drug test 5,000 people on welfare from January 2018, I turned to my partner – a square of chocolate pinned between my teeth – and mouthed “good”.
The trial is, in part, looking to crack down on welfare-fuelled substance abuse and addiction, and promises to catch those trying to “take an easy ride” on government payouts.
The selected dole recipients in three locations around the country will face a “three-strike” demerit point system and be tested for marijuana, ecstasy and methamphetamines, including ice.
Failure of the first test will see recipients of welfare placed on a cashless debit card, which restricts them from purchasing alcohol, gambling or withdrawing cash. A second positive test will get them a referral to a doctor for substance abuse treatment. Failing a third test will result in the cancellation of their $535.60 a fortnight payment, which they can apply for again after one month.
Under the new plan, drug addicted individuals will also no longer qualify for the disability support pension (a maximum of $808.30 a fortnight) for their substance abuse problems.
When I announced my support of the proposed changes in the Mamamia office meeting this morning, the looks on many of my coworkers’ faces said it all: How could you?
The words “dehumanising” and “belittling” were sprinkled through the air along with a heavy dose of disdain. And then articles from Buzzfeed trickled in, pointing out these “random tests” are not quite so, well, random at all.
In fact, the three yet-to-be-announced locations across the country will be decided with “data-driven profiling tools”, meaning those with a drug problem could be specifically sought out.
But for each colleague who disagreed with me and hated the policy, it seemed there was one who liked it. A glance on Twitter and Facebook produced the same even split.
For a budget that proposed significant changes to housing affordability and education, a tiny little drug test – one that will affect 0.00021 per cent of us – has certainly sparked a whole lot of chatter.
And that, according to Dr. Kathryn Daley, a researcher in the Centre for Applied Social Research at RMIT University, is exactly the point. After delivering a 2017 Budget that looked and smelled like something the Labor Party might serve up, the government needed something – anything – to remind the country, ‘Hey, we’re still anti-welfare’.
Top Comments
The problem is that people wont stop taking drugs, they will just change what they take. I have had training in this field and it is overwhelmingly true. There are many things out there that you can order over the internet (synthetic marijuana for example) that could be worse than the drugs tested for, so its basically going to turn people to these drugs without addressing the issues as to why people abuse drugs.
Despite what this article surmises there was no mention of the 3 trial areas being randomly chosen. Common sense would dictate that a trial would choose areas that are likely to give a meaningful result, ie don't choose an area with a very low number of people on welfare if you are trying to guage the effects of a change to welfare regulations.