The missing piece of the federal government's thinking on welfare will stay missing until after the budget, with Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews delaying the release of the first stage of a major review into welfare until after May 13.
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Mr Andrews had planned to make the review public before the federal budget, but has asked the review team, headed up by former Mission Australia chief executive Patrick McClure, to take budget decisions into their first report.
Mr McClure was due to submit his report by Easter, but when he asked for more time - pushing into the budget period - Mr Andrews told him to wait until Treasurer Joe Hockey had handed down the budget, which is expected to make sweeping changes to welfare.
"Mr Andrews said it is important that the [review team] has the opportunity to review its interim report to ensure the basis of its advice remains relevant to budget decisions," a spokeswoman for Mr Andrews said.
Mr Andrews announced the review, which is separate to the commission of audit, in January. Apart from a focus on working age income support payments - such as Newstart and the Disability Support Pension - little detail has been released about the review or its process.
There have been no terms of reference released and no public call for submissions, leading to criticism from community and welfare groups that the process has not been open enough.
Labor's families and payments spokeswoman Jenny Macklin said Mr Andrews should release the report immediately.
“Patrick McClure and his welfare review team have comprehensively failed to engage in a proper, transparent process," she said. "It now appears that the report will be kept secret until after the budget."
Ms Macklin said this would see "further uncertainty for vulnerable Australians, who are already going to have their income support savagely cut in this month’s budget".
Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie said that "the experts" had not been "around the table" for the review and that the community sector had not had access to the latest government data on the welfare system.
Dr Goldie expressed concern that the current debate about cuts to unemployment and disability supports had not been accompanied by a debate about supporting recipients into the paid workforce.
UnitingCare national director Lin Hatfield Dodds said she was glad the review process was not being rushed.
Acknowledging the lack of a public consultation process, Ms Hatfield Dodds said she hoped the delay would mean Mr McClure could incorporate in his report budget decisions and community sector and community responses to any changes announced on May 13.
