10th May 2012

Free contraception policy raises serious professional issues for case workers

The PSA says a government proposal to offer free long-term contraception to beneficiaries would raise serious professional issues for Work and Income case managers.

As part of a controversial set of welfare reforms the government is proposing to fully fund contraception for female beneficiaries and their 16-19 year old daughters. If the policy is adopted it would be up to Work and Income staff to put it into place and offer the free contraception.

The PSA has asked for some initial feedback on the issue from members in Work and Income and a number of concerns have been raised.

PSA National Secretary Brenda Pilott says many feel that it is a medical issue which they would not feel confident about raising with clients.

“Case managers work in different ways, have different beliefs and this issue could certainly push some professional boundaries. Male staff or staff with firm religious convictions may not feel comfortable raising such a personal issue”.

“This policy has the potential to seriously affect the professional relationship case managers have with their clients and there are practical implications which need to be carefully thought through”.

“We need to be careful that what could be seen as a social engineering policy does not undermine the core role of Work and Income staff, which is assisting people into work and training, and add to already high workloads,” she says.

“It is important that the government takes these concerns on board and does some careful thinking before any such policy is adopted. It needs to look at the need for extra resourcing and guidelines to manage it, and should explore first whether it should be a health initiative rather than a social policy one".

ENDS

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