Strengthening social protection for ASEAN migrant workers through social security agreements
Looks at specific actions that ASEAN countries can take to strengthening the social protection of migrant workers within the region. Argues for the importance of agreements between countries to coordinate their social security systems in order to ensure that migrant workers and their families have access to the programs of the countries in which they are working.
Protecting and Integrating Migrant Workers in ASEAN Social Security Systems
This paper considers how social security systems in Southeast Asia may be adapted in order to improve the level of protection and integration of low-skilled migrant workers and to facilitate the mobility of workers, without negatively affecting the economic situation in the region. This involves a discussion of existing unilateral, bilateral and multilateral arrangements within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Best practices within ASEAN countries, such as the Philippines, and examples of bilateral agreements involving ASEAN countries containing social security provisioning, are examined against the backdrop of the developing international and regional standards framework. The role of countries of origin in providing social protection for migrant workers and the portability of benefits is also briefly discussed. It is submitted that a co-ordinated, integrated yet streamlined approach may be able to provide solutions and options for excluded categories of migrant workers and their family members, including informal economy workers and undocumented migrants. All of this needs to be supported by suitable regulatory and institutional arrangements which inform and facilitate the adoption of key interventions at a national, bilateral and regional level to enhance the social security position of ASEAN migrant workers and, to the extent required, their families.
A Public Health Approach to Child Protection: Why Data Matter
In Australia, many researchers and policy makers believe that statutory child protection systems are overburdened and ineffective. The way forward, they suggest, is a public health model of child protection. A public health approach comprises four steps: (1) collecting surveillance data; (2) establishing causes and correlations; (3) developing and evaluating interventions; and (4) disseminating information about the effectiveness of intervention activities to the public health community. However, in Australia there are no reliable surveillance data. There is no information about ‘person’. Information is not collected about the characteristics of children (e.g., ethnicity) and parents (e.g., mental illness) reported to child protection services. Data are not comparable across place. This is because the states and territories have their own child protection legislation, definitions and data recording methods. Data are not comparable over time. This is because many jurisdictions have introduced new data recording systems over recent years. This paper concludes that it is essential to develop an effective child protection surveillance data system. This will ensure that services are located in areas and targeted towards populations in greatest need. It will enable large-scale evaluation of the effectiveness of prevention and intervention activities.