Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

Poverty for profit: Comparing the former Australian Coalition Federal Government's representations of Coronavirus Supplement and Cashless Debit Card recipients

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Submitted   Jan 2, 2024
Published   Apr 19, 2024
Issue    Vol 5 No 1 (2023)
DOI   10.25082/SWSW.2023.01.003

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Tom Griffiths
School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Christine Morley corresponding author
School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Abstract

This paper reports key findings of a critical discourse analysis (CDA) that compares the dominant constructions of both groups of welfare recipients. A total of 17 artefacts from the former ACFG press engagement were analysed. It should be noted that as of 6 March 2023, the Labor Federal Government replaced the CDC with the mostly voluntary SmartCard (remaining involuntary in the Northern Territory, as well as Cape York and Doomadgee in Queensland) (Department of Social Services (DSS) 2023). However, the findings of this study remain instructive, as they highlight hostile and anti-welfare recipient discourses that problematise individuals receiving social security payments evident in many Western Anglophone countries  and point to the importance of promoting critical literacy among policy makers, the helping professions, and society generally.

Keywords
poverty for profit, critical discourse analysis, income management

Article Details

Supporting Agencies
This work was supported by the Queensland University of Technology's Centre for Justice - Winter Research Experience Scheme.
How to Cite
Griffiths, T., & Morley, C. (2024). Poverty for profit: Comparing the former Australian Coalition Federal Government’s representations of Coronavirus Supplement and Cashless Debit Card recipients. Social Work and Social Welfare, 5(1), 278-288. https://doi.org/10.25082/SWSW.2023.01.003
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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