Department of Social Security (Australia)

The DSS largely filled the same functions as the previous Department of Social Services, while taking over some programs from the Department of Health.[4]

The Department's delivery of payments and services functions was taken over by Centrelink in 1997.[5] The creation of Centrelink meant significant changes to DSS, with the Department shrinking in size to approximately 700 staff who were tasked with policy formulation and advisory functions.[6]

In October 1998, the DSS was dissolved with the new Department of Family and Community Services, which took on all remaining DSS functions.[1] The Department of Family and Community Services brought together the DSS, child care management, crisis assistance, partnership and disability services from the former Department of Health and Family Services (including the Commonwealth Rehabilitation .. the family relationships area from the Attorney-General's Department; and .. the Child Support Agency, Office.https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/05_2012/asp_2000_2.pdf

Announced in the 1989 Federal Budget, the SNAP Program aimed to better coordinate and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the range of government assistance programs available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and was. [8] It was developed with two main objectives. The first objective was to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families were receiving their DSS entitlements. Providing correct entitlements to these families was fundamental to raise their standard of living.

The second objective was to improve the knowledge of the range of family and child-related services and funding programs available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and linking family and community groups. To improve this knowledge, the SNAP Program aimed to actively involve families and community groups in identifying their needs and the solutions to them by use of appropriate funding programs and community action.[8]

In an inquiry into access and equity implementation by Commonwealth government agencies. This Committee's Rhetoric or Reality? conducted by Parliament Department's 1990-1993 Access and Equity Plan and the Parliamentary Committee's 1993.

The report made several references to DSS's good reputation among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and its responsive approach to service delivery including, for example: The Department of Social Security (DSS) has made considerable advances in access and equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.... It was almost universally accepted that there is a strong commitment by DSS to achieving access and equity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. (p xvi) The Department [of Social Security] was almost universally identified as being the most responsive to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. (p 82)

In evidence to the Committee, the then Chief Executive Officer of ATSIC acknowledged the leading role taken by DSS in ensuring access and equity in its delivery of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people:

"I should say also that ATSIC itself has scarcely led the Commonwealth Public Service in access and equity. I think it is fair to say that we are only now appreciating its importance in our own organisation. To be frank with you, I believe we have a lot to learn from a mainstream agency like the Department of Social Security...(p 99)

While not being seen generally by SNAP Officers as the major focus of their role, the original first objective of the Program, concerned with ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are receiving their correct DSS family- and child-related entitlements, remains an ongoing activity for SNAP Officers, given that a continuing stable source of family income is fundamental to addressing family poverty

In an evaluation of the SNAP Program it was found that

• Family and community groups clearly appreciated the assistance SNAP Officers provide.
• The practical and tangible nature of this assistance, the way in which it is offered and provided (ie in response to the group's or community's expressed needs) and the ongoing involvement and commitment of SNAP Officers in working with the community/group are all highly valued.
• Communities were empowermed through the intervention of SNAP Officers in their lives came through as a continuing theme throughout the evaluation.
• Support for the SNAP Program among the staff of other agencies with whom SNAP Officers have worked and among DSS managers and other DSS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander field staff.

SNAP Program has been successful in meeting the objectives originally set for it and has established itself as a model for the efficient and effective coordination, delivery and implementation of government programs aimed at assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to deal with the effects of long-term poverty and disadvantage.

The  DSS  provides a blind pension if the individual:

• has visual acuity less than 6/60 in both eyes on the Snellen Test Scale after correction  by  suitable glasses,  or
• the vision  is better than 6/60 but concommitant eye defects and other physical and mental disabilities need to be considered.

This assessment is recorded on a specific form by  a Commonwealth  Medical Officer using clinical information supplied by an eye specialist. The information is protected by legislation to safeguard the privacy of the individual, and the strict enforcement of this has determined the method  of the present  study.

In 1995 the DSS commissioned Peter Travers and Frances Robertson from Flinders University of South Australia were commissioned by the DSS to conduct a pilot survey of 110 DSS recipients. The researches assessed incidence of deprivation among DSS clients and explored relationship between levels of relative deprivation and other factors such as DSS payment type, full or part-rate benefit and demographic characteristics. Their study conlcuded that:

• Income was a poor indicator of deprivation;
• Aged recipients were less deprived than other social security recipients;
• Unemployed on full-rate payment were most deprived

Developing a Framework for Benchmarks of Adequacy for Social Security Payments: Policy Discussion Paper No. 6 (May,1995) was the departmenfs first attempt to assess conceptual and methodological issues in assessing adequacy of social security payments.

Following the outcome of this report the DSS, created the Budget Standards Project (BDS). BDS was a two-year exploratory project that began in 1995 with financial support of the  DDS, conducted by the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) of the UNSW.

During this time, the DSS was also collaborating with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on a 'Living Standards' approach. The BDS identifies indicative income requirements of different households, while the 'Living Standards' approach concentrated on client outcomes, not in a comparative framework that asses relative living standards of different groups by considering cash and non-cash factors.

The Health Insurance Planning Commission proposed Medibank, providing universal coverage for a full spectrum of hospital and ambulatory services, eventually financed by general revenues. The program was implemented by the Department of Social Security beginning in July 1975.

• Jobs, Education and Training (JET) program for sole parent pensioners
• Jobsearch/Newstart programs for unemployed people and the Disability Support program for people with disabilities