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

s

The End