Easier delivery for young mothers

Young mothers, wanting to set up their family benefit payments, are increasingly doing that over the internet.

Indeed,  the government says, around 80 per cent of first time mothers now lodge their claims online instead of using paper forms.

”More and more people are telling Centrelink they prefer to use the Internet to do their business,” the Federal Minister for Human Services, Chris Bowen, says.

His comments illustrate a revolution, now under way, in the methods used to pay benefits of all kinds.

Age pensions, Austudy payments, youth allowances and even disaster relief payments can all  be accessed over the internet now.

Old style visits to local social security offices are rapidly becoming a relic of  past practices.

And that’s understandable.  A brief visit, to a computer in your back room, is much more convenient.

So how do you find out just what your entitlements might be?

A visit to  www.centrelink.gov.au or www.familyassist.gov.au. will probably help.

If you still need to be certain, though, after that, a telephone call to your local Centrelink office will usually confirm your calculations.

In short,  this task has never been easier.

And Mr Bowen is proud of that.

“More families are choosing to claim family payments over the Internet, with around half of all family assistance claims now being made using convenient and improved online services.” he says.

Mr Bowen said Centrelink has worked hard  to improve these services.

The information that clients provide through an online claims is sent straight into Cenrtrelink’s records.

And that which still comes on  paper forms is also scanned into its computer system.

Mr Bowen said the service also allows busy parents to save the information they have completed and finish the claim  later.

.“The 6,000 families claiming Family Tax Benefit online and 3,400 families lodging a paper form every week are benefiting from these changes by receiving their payments more quickly, with more than 80 per cent of claims processed within 14 days,” Mr Bowen adds.

People can claim a number of family payments online including Family Tax Benefit, Baby Bonus, Child Care Benefit and Maternity Immunisation Allowance, Mr Bowen said.

And 3.9 million customers are already registered to use self-service options.

And more than 24 million online transactions were completed last  financial year.

Others wishing to register need only to go to www.centrelink.gov.au or www.familyassist.gov.au.

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Government to legislate on executive pay

Corporate executives will soon be hit with new laws curbing pay levels that are deemed to be excessive.

The Financial Services Minister, Chris Bowen, told  reporters in Sydney yesterday, that this would happen before the end of the year.

Mr Bowen also signalled that he will be be studying fat payouts, for executives,  in particular.

But he dismissed criticism from the Greens and the ACTU, who  both said the Productivity Commission went soft, on these issues, in its final report on the matter.

In that report, which the government received just before Christmas, the commission rejected executive salary caps, describing them as “unworkable.”

It made 17 recommendations the government, on ways in which excessive pay for executives might be curbed.(see www.pc.gov.au)

Corporate executives, who do not believe their pay is excessive, will still be relieved, at least, to find  that the government will now be considering this issue in a less highly charged environment than that which followed the share market crash.

When the government referred this issue to the Commission, early last year, public anger was running high, on these issues.

Mr Bowen said the Government had referred this issue to the Productivity Commission because it wanted it considered in a thorough and well considered manner.

“And that’s what the Productivity Commission has done,” he added.

” This Report follows consultation around the country, a range of hearings, consultation both before and after the Draft Report released last year.”

“We’ll be considering those recommendations and it’s our intention to respond in the first quarter of this year,

Mr Bowen added.

The Productivity Commission found that while Australia’s corporate governance is good by world standards, some pay practices had led to poor corporate performance.

That had damaged public confidence.

Mr Bowen also said the public rightly expects Governments to ensure  appropriate accountability and transparency in this area.

“…this Report provides the Government with a good basis for the next round of reforms,” he said.

But he admitted that there had been  bad examples.

These included of “poor salary practices” and “excessive termination pay in particular.”

” In some instances it’s hard to see the relationship between good corporate performance and salaries.

“In some instances, corporate performance has been very poor and salaries have been very high, Mr Bowen said.

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Goverment welcomes proposed curbs on executive pay

Shareholders would get “more say” on executive pay, under a plan advanced by the Productivity Commission.

That would be pursued through  as proposed  ” two strikes rule.”

Under that rule, company boards would have to face re-election if shareholders have repeatedly vote against the salary packages, that the boards  have offered executives.

However the commission stopped short of recommending  caps on executive salary, in a report it has made to the Federal government.

“Capping pay or introducing a binding shareholder vote” on executive pay rates “would be impractical and costly” the commission said.

The government has promised a quick response to the report, promising an announcement in the first quarter of this year.

In a joint statement, the Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan and two senior ministers said the Government welcomed the Productivity Commission’s final report on Australia’s director and executive remuneration framework.

They said it had  commissioned the inquiry last March  as part of a broader response “to curb excessive remuneration practices.”

The three ministers said the commission’s recommendations are designed to improve board capacities, reduce conflicts of interest, encourage stakeholder engagement and improve relevant disclosure and to ensure well conceived remuneration policies.

“The Government understands fully the community’s concerns about excessive executive pay that rewards reckless risk taking,” Mr Swan said.

“That’s why we are committed to ensuring  that executive pay regulation is in line with community expectations as well as international best practice.”

As part of this commitment, the Government had taken steps to strengthen a number of other aspects of Australia’s executive remuneration framework.

“Recently, the Government enacted reforms to empower shareholders to reject excessive termination benefits given to company directors and executives when they depart a company,” the Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen said.

The Commission’s report also complements work that the Australian Government has been engaged in through the G20, the three ministers said.

They said that is being implemented by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA).

The Commission’s final report is available at www.pc.gov.au.

Executive pay rates, in Australia, are still truly impressive.

The nation’s top 20 executives were paid an average of  $7.2 million each, last financial year.

That was 110 times average weekly earnings.

But executive remuneration in Australia is  still below comparable rates in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

The commission warned, too, that local executive pay rates had been rising strongly, averaging increases of 13 per cent a year, until  the small set back, which followed the stock market crash.

“Incentive pay (standards) imported from the United States and introduced without appropriate hurdles spurred pay rises in the 1990s, partly for good luck,” the commission said.

“But the way forward is not to by-pass the central role of board,” it added.

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Ten years older – and deeper in debt

Where do you stand, at the start of a bright new decade?

An old song puts it well.

“You load 16 tons – and what do you get?

“Another day older – and deeper in debt.”

This coal miner’s lament, which was once a huge hit, still  has lessons for  all Australians.

At the end of the noughties, for example, their nation is more  dependent on coal than ever.

That’s not a good look, in a world – rightly – worrried about climate change.

And debt levels have risen so sharply, in Australia, over recent years, that they now present a real risk to the nation’s financial stability.

At the turn of the Century, the average Australian owed a little more than $22,000.

According to the Reserve Bank,  that’s now $74,000.

So debts have more than trebled over the decade, while prices rose by just 35 per cent.

Repayment capacity hasn’t matched debt growth, either.

While average weekly earnings now stand at a truly impressive $1,249 a week – wages – from which debt repayments are made – rose by just 50 per cent over the noughties.

Don’t despair if you don’t earn quite that amount, though.  Most people don’t.  It’s the relatively small number, right at the top, who push that figure into the stratosphere.

The crash still dominates Australia’s prospects, even though its influence is now waning.

At the start of the last decade, Australia had chalked up 3.75 per cent growth – while  expecting something a little better in the year ahead.

On the latest figures, Australia’s annual economic growth rate was just 0.5 per cent and – once again – we are looking for something a little better in future.

The crash, though, hit Australia’s national finances very hard.

At the turn of the Century, for example. the Federal government took a 23.4 per cent revenue bite from Australia’s output.

That tax take is now up to 24.9 per cent.

The Federal government’s spending has also risen  sharply.

It was just 22.8 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product, back then.

It is now about 27 per cent.

Stimulus packages might be necessary,  after stock market crashes.

Bu they are not cheap.

So what else hits the pockets and purses of ordinary Australians, today – and how has all that changed, over the past decade?

At 5.7 per cent, Australia’s unemployment rate is still low, by current standards.  The US rate, for example, is 10 per cent.

Most will have forgotten, though, ours stood at 7.5 per cent at the turn of the Century.

And Australia’s inflation rate – which was approaching 6 per cent then – is now down to 1.3 per cent.

Share prices had been rising strongly, as the turn of the Century approached.  But the tech-wreck  rock was just ahead.

That, sadly, became a model for a later disaster, too.

Technical advances were certainly impressive, at the turn of the Century .

But they were also over-hyped, on world share markets.

Sadly we  forgot that lesson, all-too-quickly.

If we had remembered it, we might well have asked some salutory questions, when complex financial products were also hyped, some years later.

So what lies ahead now?

We will make just one prediction, but we offer it with absolute certainty.

Expect the unexpected

It’s a safe bet.

Related stories:

1. Crisis to be “deeper” and “longer:” IMF
2. Australian families constrain debt, but governments…

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The Dow Jones index rose 7.80 points to 11,577.50

The $A was fetching 1.02295 US cents earlier today

New national consumer protection laws come into effect at midnight tonight

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