Welfare residualisation and deterrence

In recent decades, governments have prioritised strictly targeting welfare policies that reduce the
number of people accessing income support, which has been viewed as a positive policy outcome
and “incentive to work”. As a result, the welfare system has become increasingly residualised,
punitive and deters people from accessing support they are entitled to, as shown in the Antipoverty
Centre’s Punishment for Profit employment services report. Rather than pushing people into paid
work, these policies have instead pushed people into homelessness and financial dependency on
others who do not even have adequate resources themselves. Exclusion from income support leads to relationship breakdown and traps people in violent homes.

This report mostly consists of survey responses from our mutual obligations survey from 2023 with a brief summary and background information from us. You can read the Punishment for profit report here and our related media release here.