Welfare system is 'ill-equipped', charity says

THE welfare system is creating disincentives for many people to return to work and should be replaced with a universal payment that can be topped up according to individual circumstances, a charity has urged.

Sole parents slugged by an 'antiquated' system

THE "antiquated" welfare system is creating disincentives for many people to return to work and should be replaced with a universal payment that takes into account individual circumstances, a welfare group has urged.

Welfare recipients feel stripped of their adulthood

A survey has found many shamed by the indignities of Centrelink, writes Adele Horin.

Movies - Wednesday, March 31

Taken (2008) Showtime Premiere, 9.55pm Every Other Week (2006) SBS One, 11.05pm

Movies

About a Boy (2002)

LETTERS

First and foremost, scheme is a fraud

$82m 'WASTE'

IT WAS designed to stimulate the economy but more than $82 million of the first round of the Federal Government's stimulus payments went to people living abroad. Centrelink has confirmed 68,812 people living overseas received as much as $1400 each €“ a total of $82.2 million. The figure is 1.7 per cent of the $4.8 billion the Government handed out to pensioners, self-funded retirees and some single parents in December last year.

Rise in pension pay won't flow to unemployed

PEOPLE looking for work can spend more than five years living on one of the lowest social security payments, new figures show.

Young men's mindlessness starts at home: surgeon

ONE of Australia's leading neurosurgeons has blasted Victoria's "epidemic" of violence, and called for parents and teachers to take responsibility in teaching self-restraint to young men.

Do try this at home: parents declare school's in

AS POLITICIANS argue over league tables and teaching standards, parents are increasingly taking their children out of the school system.

For many, benefits flow in schooling at home

AS POLITICIANS argue over school league tables and teaching standards, parents are increasingly taking their children out of the school system.

School-reporting policy in league of own as Greens get their clause into it

The Federal Government confirmed last year that it would be making good on its election promise to introduce transparency measures for all schools, including publicly reporting school-level performance in national tests, year 12 results, and a range of other information.

Families Prepare To Make Abc Change

KAREN ROACH, a single mother with a full-time job and a 21-month-old daughter, does not want to join the exodus from ABC Learning child-care centres, but she may not have a choice.

Single Parents To Swell Ranks Of Unemployed

AUSTRALIA'S unemployment rate could spike upwards before this year's federal election as the Federal Government's next wave of welfare reforms pushes tens of thousands of single parents into the labour force.

Funds Drops Single Parent Rates

CLOSE TO 28,000 single parents could see their health fund premiums drop when Commonwealth health insurance changes take effect from April 1.