The Business Council of Australia today welcomed the release of the McClure Report on welfare reform.

The Executive Director of the BCA, Mr David Buckingham, said today:

“It provides a lot of clear and practical advice for the reform of the welfare system. The move towards an integrated system of payments combined with better targeted delivery arrangements would be a major step forward.

“The McClure Report's extension of the principle of mutual obligation, and the recognition of social obligations more generally, involves a development of Australia’s thinking about social welfare matters, and should be welcomed as such.

“The Business Council is particularly pleased to see that the recommendations to improve the situation of mature retrenched workers follows the lines previously advocated by the council following its receipt of advice from the Boston Consulting Group on the needs of the long-term unemployed.

“From a business perspective, the area in which the Business Council of Australia would anticipate the need for further work relates principally to the proposed extension of auditing to matters of corporate social responsibility. The methodology for such audits is still underdeveloped and does not yet reflect the level of objectivity and precision required for a properly crafted audit process.”