Cutting to chase on welfare, child care

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE TURNBULL GOVERNMENT'S WELFARE AND CHILDCARE BILLS?

* The "Jobs for Families Child Care Package" is being debated in the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

* The "omnibus bill", which brought childcare changes and welfare savings together in one piece of law, has been set aside.

* New draft laws (Social Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2017), which only include welfare savings, have been flagged but not yet introduced to the House. A new saving is a pause to indexation of Family Tax Benefits for two years from July 1, 2017.

* Other welfare savings in the new bill, carried over from the old one, include:

a) maintaining the income free areas and means test threshold for certain payments and allowances at their current levels for three years;

b) automating the income stream review process which will improve the accuracy of income support payments and reductions in customer debts and;

c) extending and simplifying waiting periods for the parenting payment and youth allowance for a person who is not undertaking full time study or is a new apprentice.

* The Senate will sit on Friday, if that's what it takes, to pass the bills.

* The government is quietly hopeful of getting the nine crossbench votes it needs.

* If the split bills are passed, the omnibus bill will be scrapped, or "discharged from the notice paper".