The Guardian 27 April, 2005
Goverment to spy with “smartcard”
The Federal Government plans to introduce a Medicare “smartcard” with a microchip to store personal details about welfare payments and medical conditions.
This follows a recent move by NSW Roads Minister Michael Costa to implement a photo card identification system for the citizens of NSW (see The Guardian 13/4/05).
The Medicare smartcard has already being trialled in Tasmania where there have been demonstrated problems with lost or stolen cards being used to access free medical treatment.
Australian Privacy Foundation chair Anna Johnston said: “Smartcards allow more information to be stored on the card itself, but that means greater risks if the wrong person gets access to the card.
“The trial of the Medicare Smartcard in Tasmania is already demonstrating the risks involved. If your card is lost or stolen the person who has the card can access your Medicare records at any Medicare Office in Tasmania”, she said.
The card would enable the government to review a person’s eligibility for the Disability Support Pension for example and violates the generally accepted privacy rights of individuals. The Government would have a computerised record of which doctors were seen and how often, when prescriptions are filled and any other services accessed.
Disability pensioners
The Federal Government has also finalised plans to force Disability Support Pensioners and sole parents of primary school aged children into the workforce. This strategy will be introduced as part of next month’s budget. (For more detail of what the changes involve see The Guardian 13/4/05.)
Because of a massive public outcry the government has decided that the new rules will apply only to new applicants, but welfare groups accuse the government of creating a two-tiered welfare system. New applicants for the DSP would no longer be able to receive this pension if they could work 15 hours a week — halving the current 30-hour requirement.
Under the new rules, new applicants who were deemed to be able to work just 15 hours per week would go onto unemployment benefits and not the higher paying disability pension.
The welfare sector says that those who currently receive the payment will also be affected if the job terminates because they will then be regarded as a new applicant and subjected to the new rules. Under the current system Disability Pensioners who lose a job through sickness or retrenchment within two years are automatically entitled to have their pension re-instated.
Maryanne Diamond Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations said: “If we have a tiered system, it might mean that people currently on DSP who are interested in working might think twice before going for a job, because if it doesn’t work out they might find themselves on the newer, harsher conditions. I think the focus should be on the barriers to work not new rules”, she said.
The changes will go before the Senate later this year and will be implemented on July 1 next year.