UN experts call for explanation on Australia’s decision to cut payments to single parents

The UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and the UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women have expressed serious concerns that cuts to payments to single parents may be a violation of Australia’s international human rights obligations. In response to an urgent complaint co-signed by the Human Rights Law Centre and other welfare groups, the UN experts have requested that the Australian Government explain its decision to shift tens of thousands of single parents – 90% of which are women – off parenting payments and on to Newstart, representing a decrease in weekly payments of up to $110.

According to the UN experts, this legislation represents potential violations of Australia’s human rights obligations, including the rights to social security, the right to an adequate standard of living, the prohibition of non-discrimination in the enjoyment of these rights and a number of obligations contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

Click here for a copy of the UN letter to the Australian Government.