Over-55s the only group to receive Centrelink payment boost
Older recipients of JobSeeker will receive a higher welfare payment as the federal budget is set to include an increase in payments for 227,000 Aussies.
According to 7News, the budget will include an increase in the base rate of the JobSeeker for people aged 55 and above.
The change honours Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ promise that an increase “will be focused on the most vulnerable”.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher previously committed to a “significant improvement” in terms of the budget.
When asked if the rate of JobSeeker would be lifted, Gallagher revealed the budget would contain “ongoing” investments to help people with cost-of-living pressures, in addition to one-off measures.
“This budget will have a significant cost-of-living package and that cost-of-living package will be targeted to the most vulnerable Australians,” she said.
About 227,000 Jobseeker recipients are 55 and over, which is the highest number of any age group and the group most likely to be unemployed long-term, meaning they are without a job for five years or more.
The majority of people in this group are women.
Senior sources reportedly told 7News that the increase will be modest, not the $100-a-week advocates are hoping for but what the budget can afford.
The change is unlikely to please Raise the Rate campaigners, who have called for the government to bring payments above the poverty line.
7News reported that the government will sell the moderate increase as a “responsible first step”, an increase that will help the most vulnerable of JobSeeker recipients and honours its election commitment to do what it can to help within the restraints of the budget.
The pressure continues to pile up for the government to substantially increase income support payments above $49.50 a day for singles on JobSeeker and $40.20 a day for Youth Allowance.
An open letter to the Prime Minister, which has been signed by more than 300 politicians, community advocates and prolific Aussies, called for an increase to be included in the budget to support those most in need.
“Right now, the rate of JobSeeker is so low that people are being forced to choose between paying their rent or buying enough food and medicine,” the letter, coordinated by the Australian Council of Social Service, read.
In 2022, the council’s research found six in 10 people on income support were eating less or reporting difficulty getting medicine or care due to their inadequate income. This increased to seven in 10 in March 2023.
The budget plans to extend single-parenting payments and increase rental assistance - particularly for women.
Around $120 billion in Morrison Government road and rail projects will be reviewed and money reprioritised, with hundreds of smaller projects likely to be stopped.
Image credit: Getty