TILA Tales Romola Hollywood Manager Social Policy & Advocacy UnitingCare Children, Young People & Families Eamon Waterford Director Policy & Advocacy Youth Action ACWA Conference August 2014
Dec 14, 2015
TILA Tales
Romola HollywoodManager Social Policy & Advocacy
UnitingCare Children, Young People & Families
Eamon WaterfordDirector Policy & Advocacy
Youth Action
ACWA Conference August 2014
PrologueOnce upon a time there was an allowance
for young people leaving care. The
Transition to Independent Living
Allowance was called TILA for short.
TILA’s tale is a five-year journey of
mystifying and even kafkaesque
transformation. Today we are going to tell
TILA’s story and review the lessons learnt
for policy and advocacy.
Transitioning to independence
Becoming an independent young person covers a range of life changes and experiences.
For many of us, it is hard to do: most young people are reliant on parental support
For young people leaving care, it is very hard to do: young care leavers have few family supports
Young people leaving care are reliant on support from their corporate parent – the State and, in turn, Commonwealth Governments.
What is TILA?
Transition to Independent Living Allowance: Commonwealth Government payment Aimed at young people leaving
statutory out-of-home care or specialist homelessness services
$1,500 in up to 6 instalments One of the few cash payments
available to young people leaving care.
How can TILA be used?
Setting up a house
Getting into education
Further training
Govt changes TILA eligibility
In 2009 Federal Government changed TILA’s eligibility
TILA is restricted to young people leaving care up to the age of 22
Previously young people leaving care could access TILA up to the age of 25
OOHC and aftercare services were very concerned about the impact of the changes on young people and lack of consultation with service providers
In June 2010 UnitingCare, along with others, raised these concerns with the Minister for FACSHIA – Jenny Macklin.
Govt agrees to review TILA
In response to sector concerns:
In July 2010 – the Minister for Youth – Kate Ellis promised a review ‘within 6 months’
In April/May 2011 – (10 months later) an internal review commenced: Consultants ‘Colmar Brunton’ appointed They conducted limited consultations with the
sector and they said the timeframes were very tight We assumed the limited consultations were
because of the 10-month delay since the review’s announcement.
Despite the urgency of the consultations:
In Feb 2012 we formally wrote to Minister Garrett to find out what was happening
In March 2012 the Department promised release of report in the near future
In 2012 and 2013 we continued to follow up
Standard response was ‘Awaiting Ministerial approval’
Govt goes quiet on the review
Govt announces TILA changes
In August 2013 – or nearly four years on - and on the eve of the Federal election: Minister Julie Collins announces new arrangements for TILA
Despite the many promises and the delays, there was:
No release of the review
No release of a government report on the review
Just final changes to TILA announced!
Outcomes of TILA Review
A poor outcome with no net change
Previous changes were reversed but further restrictions were put in place: To be administered through Centrelink No access for young people in informal care To take effect 1 January 2014, nearly five years
after the original changes were announced.
Since 1 January 2014, implementation in NSW has also been slow and difficult to track
Where is TILA now?
In NSW TILA is again being administered by Southern Youth and Family Services and not Centrelink as the 2013 announcement indicated.
TILA eligibility: Back up to 25 years of age Must have been in formal statutory OOHC TILA application must be supported by a
leaving care plan (which creates its own policy challenges here in NSW as many young people do not have a leaving care plan)
The policy cycleAdapted from the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA) 2008
Agenda Setting
Formulationresearch
consultation
Decision makingImplementation
Evaluation
The TILA policy cycle
Agenda Setting – reducing eligibility
Formulation – limited consultation
and research
Decision making – slow and sporadic
Implementation – not well planned
and needed buy-in from States and
Territories
Evaluation – none planned that we
know of
Reviewing the TILA review
Internal review to
target funding by reducing
eligibility
Few links to larger
strategic policy
frameworks
Lessons learnt - what was needed
Better and more strategic advocacy from the sector
Increased transparency and accountability from government
Ministers to champion TILA and the policy review process
An overarching framework or goals to explicitly benefit young people leaving care
Reflections on our advocacy
Did we get drawn into a review that was not leading
anywhere?
Could we have directed energy and
our scarce resources to better
serve young people?
Could we have advocated more strategically and
effectively?
Should we have let the issue of TILA go
and, if so, why didn’t we?
Future advocacy on TILA?
TILA is still sorely inadequate as a policy approach to support young people leaving care so ….
Should we keep advocating for changes to TILA, given the experiences of the last five years?
Should we be more strategic and look at the bigger picture for young people leaving care?
Where is the appetite for change and to improve outcomes for some of our most vulnerable young people in Australia?
What is the next chapter?
Sadly, the story continues in our policy and advocacy work to improve outcomes for young people leaving care
We wish it could be a ‘short story’ but advocating for change (even mediocre change in the case of TILA) takes time
We know there must be a ‘next chapter’ in advocating to improve outcomes for young people transitioning to independent living but we think our advocacy has to be broader and more strategic
You can find out more about this next chapter at Toni Beauchamp’s workshop on Tuesday in 12.00-12.30pm.
Questions Comment
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The End