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Drug testing welfare recipients raises questions about data profiling and discrimination
Many of our actions are now observable, searchable and traceable, and surveillance is more intrusive and extensive than ever. But the impact of this can fall more heavily on disadvantaged communities. So-called “random” drug testing is just another example of this worrisome trend. […]
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New Zealand organisations say drug testing for welfare ‘not the best use of funds’
In New Zealand, welfare recipients are drug tested as a precondition for getting certain jobs. But Ross Bell, the executive director of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, said the program has fundamentally been “a waste of time”. […]
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Any dignity left down the toilet
If a North Shore mum had to give a drug test before she claimed Family Tax Benefit Part B, Sunrise and Mamamia would be calling for Malcolm Turnbull’s head, but when it is just the dole bludgers everyone seems kind of cool with it. […]
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Telegraph exploits man and exposes Australia’s failed and futile drug policy
If Australia had started a quarter century ago reforming its drug laws and carrying out a heroin trial, the bedraggled man in the photograph may well by now have been leading a normal and useful life, looking after his family, working for a living and paying his share of taxes. The exploitation of the man in the Daily Telegraph photo…
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Scott Morrison’s plan to test sewage for drug use ‘might misfire’, say experts
The Penington Institute has warned the government that targeting welfare recipients with drug testing will see an increase in crime and homelessness among Australia’s most vulnerable people. […]
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Centrelink accused of plan to ‘profile’ vulnerable drug users in welfare crackdow
The Federal Government’s plan to drug-test welfare recipients has been slammed by anti-poverty advocates who say it is a discriminatory tool for profiling vulnerable people. […]
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Drug-testing will demonise Australians on welfare, experts say
Welfare advocates say the Coalition’s plan to drug-test welfare recipients undermines the fabric of Australia’s needs-based safety net, while drug experts are warning the trial could have “unintended consequences” on those in the throes of addiction, including driving them into criminality. […]
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Drug Testing The Dole Queue Won’t Help Make It Shorter
Until drug use is truly seen as a health issue and not one to be addressed via punitive measures, the stigma, discrimination, isolation and helplessness will remain. This program will not result in helping people but rather increase their likelihood of moving into a life of crime and homelessness. […]
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