Australian Welfare Law - Essay Example

Name: Date: Institution: Australia Welfare Law The generation in Australia has grown with no recession experiences. For the last 26 years, the country has experienced a positive economic growth. However, in the recent years, the country’s economic growth has not been realized. This is because not all the Australian citizens have contributed to the economic growth. Many citizens have been frustrated by the poor economic growth in the recent years. Wage growth in the country has also been slow. Workers, on the other hand, have to work for extra hours compared to the previous hours (Gibbons, John). Individuals having small businesses have also suffered since they find it hard to keep their businesses open or to keep their employees at work. Due to the low economic growth, Australians and their families have experienced high pressure due to high expenditures (Carney, & Terry). However, there are indications that the economy is moving in the right direction implying that there will be higher returns in the future. Therefore, the 2017- 18 budget, is designed such that it makes the right choices and to ensure that the days ahead are better. The Australian government’s major agenda is to boost the economy. It aims at helping the households so that every single individual within the country can equally benefit from the country’s economic growth. The budget is therefore based on; opportunity, fairness, and security. It is a budget that is meant to strengthen the 2016- 17 budget. However, unlike the previous year’s budget, this budget is meant to create more opportunities for the citizens and for their businesses. It also creates better-paying jobs and guarantees the availability of essential services. The Australian government has laid several strategies in ensuring that the Australian welfare system is supported. First, has considered a stronger economic growth in order to offer better-paying jobs. The country has laid its focus on growing the economy. The government has therefore made a decision to invest in infrastructure. By investing in infrastructure, the economy will be in a position to create well-paying jobs to the citizens. The government also aims at creating a suitable working environment where individuals and businesses are well empowered. Empowering businesses will boost economic growth. Therefore, the government investing in key infrastructures positively contributes to job creation in the economy. As a result, the Australian welfare system is supported. The government has also considered dealing with the pressure resulting from the cost of living. The slow growth in the economy has left many Australians suffering since they cannot meet their basic needs. The 2017-2018 budgets have focused on how the government would improve the citizen’s welfare through easing the cost of living. The government has identified the following as the key areas where Australian are experienced a lot of struggles; power prices, housing affordability, and child care. This strategy has been put in place after the government has realized that not all the citizens will enjoy the benefits of Australia’s economic growth. This budget, therefore, will ease household expenditures and ensures that citizens are able to enjoy housing affordability. Due to this measure, the homeless will be supported. The government has also guaranteed essential services that are relied on by the Australians. The government has given priorities to ensure that essentials services such as disability support, housing, health care, employment, and education are funded. This will ensure that the citizens can afford and accesses such services with ease and at a lower cost. If the government does not address such issues then the economy may remain stagnant or even decline. This is because, if a country does not support the education system, then the level of skills and know how will remain below the standards and therefore the country will rely on foreign personnel. The products manufactured within the country will not meet the international standards and therefore the country will import more than it exports. Ill health leads to poor economic growth, an individual may not be productive in case of ill health. The person will spend much of his/her income on hospital bills instead of investing. It is therefore important for the government to support such essential services The government has also set a strategy to operate within its means. The government has been operating on loans; both internal and external loans. This financial year’s budget the government has focused on arresting the deficit and also ensuring that the national debt is arrested as well (Harding et al. p 200). The government’s attempt to arrest both the national debt and budget deficit will improve the country’s AAA credit rating. This is a strategy that is aimed at ensuring that the future generations are not loaded with heavy national debts. The above strategies will help in improving the country’s welfare system. This is because the citizens will have their interests catered for. The strategies are designed in such a way that all citizens regardless of the social classes will enjoy the benefit of the country’s economic growth. For instance, the government aims at backing small businesses and also invests in future growth. This is through supporting and funding infrastructural projects within the country. Most of the small businesses are owned by middle-class individuals (Daley et al). The economy will grow in case the middle-class individuals are involved in transactions since they are the majority in the economy. By supporting their businesses the country’s GDP will increase and as a result, the living standards will improve. Poor resource allocation has been a cause of poor economic growth within the country. This ensures that only a few individuals within the economy enjoy the profit earned through the country’s economic growth. With the strategies set in the 2017- 18 budget, the welfare of the Australian will be considered. This is because; the government aims at investing in infrastructure across all the regions ensuring that there is a uniform distribution of resources. The strategy of reducing the cost of living of all the citizens is a great support to the welfare system. This is because the government will ensure that every citizen can access and afford a safe and affordable housing. All the above-mentioned measures are meant to improve the Australian economic performance. Implementing all these measures will ensure that the citizens are in a position to live within their means (White, &Steven, p. 347). The strategies are also aimed to ensure that the country will operate within a balanced budget by the year 2020- 21. Reducing the cost of living is one of the key strategy and very important in the Australia’s welfare system. This is because according to the government integration report individual’s cost of payment in the next 40 years will be subjected to a fall. An example of such cost of payment includes; parenting payment, disability support pension, new start allowance, youth allowance, and child care benefits (Britt et al. p 74). This strategy is meant to cater for the welfare of the people who are not in a position to afford the basic need. The rate of unemployment has gone high within the economy. The population has also increased in the country. This implies that government expenditure has also gone high. Due to the high government expenditures, the government is forced to raise the tax so that it can have enough capital to fund its projects. The government is also forced to borrow both internal and external loans in order to fund its projects and to meet the needs of its people. As a result, the cost of living has increased (Haskins, & Ron). The high government expenditures have contributed to the following within the economy; people under 30 years have to wait up to six months for them to get unemployment benefits. Those under 25 years are moved to new starts allowance or to youth allowance and cuts in family payments are also experienced. Due to the cuts in individuals’ income, the rate of investment will be affected. This is because the attempt discourages saving. The cost of living will be high since individuals will not be in a position to afford their initial level of consumption. In the long run, the economic growth will drop due to poor investment and poor capital formation in the economy. However, the government has been in the forefront to ensure it counters this effect (Bronitt, Simon, & Bernadette McSherry). The government is aware of the cuts imposed on individual’s income. The citizens are likely not to afford basic needs. The rate of saving in the country will also be affected. The government, therefore, has developed a strategy the will reduce the cost of living (Staples et al. p 9). By reducing the cost of living, the individuals will have access to education, secure and affordable housing. The disabled are also to get disability pensions support. Adopting this strategy will be beneficial in the long run. This is because individuals will be in a position to save and as a result investment will be encouraged. Through investment, the standards of living will also improve among the citizens. Capital formation in the economy will also be encouraged. This will ensure that the government is able to raise its revenue through taxes and finance its projects such as infrastructure. The country will, as a result, reduce the rate of borrowing and therefore the future generations will be set free from the heavy burden of loans. This will improve the country’s welfare system in the long run (Tushnet, & Mark). In conclusion, the government has developed strategies which are in line with the country’s welfare system. The main interest of the government is to ensure that each citizen can afford and access to the benefit of the country’s economic growth. Australians’ welfare has also been considered. This is through the government funding the essential services that the Australians rely on (Makin, & Anthony p 15). The country also aims at ensuring economic growth and by 2020-21 the country to operate within a balanced budget. The country aims at ensuring that the future economy is stable and that the future generations are not burdened with heavy loads. With a high cost of living, the economy wills not show a positive growth. This is because the rate of investment is discouraged. The government should, therefore, put measures in place that will ensure that the cost of living is reduced. There are many causes of the high cost of living; for instance, deficit financing through taxing (Jamrozik, & Adam Wladyslaw). This makes the government impose high taxes on individuals and as a result, the cost of living goes high. The country should invest in infrastructural development in different regions within the country. This will ensure that the national resources are distributed uniformly and each member of the society will be in a position to enjoy the benefits of high national income. Work cited Australia, Safe Work. "About safe work Australia." 2016-04-11]. http://www. safeworkaustralia. gov. au/sites/swa/about/pages/about (2009). Britt, Helena C., et al. "Prevalence and patterns of multimorbidity in Australia." The Medical Journal of Australia 189.2 (2008): 72-77. Bronitt, Simon, and Bernadette McSherry. "Principles of Criminal Law 4e." (2005). Carney, Terry. "The Future of Welfare Law in a Changing World: Lessons from Australia and Singapore?." (2010). Daley, John, Cassie McGannon, and A. Hunter. Budget pressures on Australian governments 2014. Grattan Institute, 2014. Gibbons, John. Language and the Law. Routledge, 2014. Harding, Ann, et al. "Welfare-to-work reforms: impact on sole parents." Agenda: A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform (2005): 195-210. Haskins, Ron. Work over welfare: The inside story of the 1996 welfare reform law. Brookings Institution Press, 2007. Jamrozik, Adam Wladyslaw. Social policy in the post-welfare state: Australian society in a changing world. Pearson Education Limited, 2009. Makin, Anthony J. "Did Australia's Fiscal Stimulus Counter Recession?: Evidence from the National Accounts." Agenda: A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform (2010): 5-16. Staples, Margaret P., et al. "Non-melanoma skin cancer in Australia: the 2002 national survey and trends since 1985." The Medical Journal of Australia184.1 (2006): 6-10. Tushnet, Mark. Weak courts, strong rights: Judicial review and social welfare rights in comparative constitutional law. Princeton University Press, 2009. White, Steven. "Regulation of animal welfare in Australia and the emergent Commonwealth: entrenching the traditional approach of the states and territories or laying the ground for reform." Fed. L. Rev. 35 (2007): 347. Read More