Welfare Reform and Fbos: An Australian Perspective (Faith-Based Organisations) (Report‪)‬

In recent years, the intersection between political and religious values has led to interesting changes in welfare provision in Anglo-Western nations across the OECD countries (Bartkowski & Regis, 2003; Lohrey, 2006; Saunders, 2005; Walsh, 2000; Warhurst, 2007). This has led to a restructuring of welfare that, in Australia, has reconfigured the relationship between the government and the not-for-profit (NFP) sector in which faith-based organisations (FBOs) play a major role (Engels, 2006: Family and Community Services (FaCS) (1), 2005; Lyons, 2001). FBOs tend to be largely staffed by volunteers with religious motivation to be of service to others. In the period that this study was carried out, the Howard Liberal Coalition Government's welfare reforms led to the targeting of welfare dependents. In 2006 the severity of the breaching program was increased which could render welfare dependents on benefits such as Newstart and Youth Allowance losing their benefits for a period of eight weeks (Andrews, 2005; Centrelink, 2006). Sanctions coupled with residual payments and the tightening of criteria to access pensions left many with no option but to access emergency relief (ER) from FBOs who hold the majority of contracts to supply it (Engels, 2006). Welfare beneficiaries were expected to integrate into society through economic participation (ACOSS, n.d.; Centrelink, 2006; Saunders, 2005). Politically this was achieved in a number of ways, (Travers, 2005) one in particular was the articulation of the individualisation of personal responsibility for poverty, viewed through a moral lens.