The rate of JobSeeker has failed to keep up with the cost of living and without action the number of people in need of support will grow, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW’s chief Yolanda Saiz writes. Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
When Anthony Albanese amended the Stage 3 tax cuts at the start of last year, he acknowledged that, as Prime Minister, he was in a position to act on cost-of-living pressures. That choice improved lives. But there is another choice that could transform nearly a million lives nationally: raising the rate of JobSeeker.
At the St Vincent de Paul Society, we hear every day from people who are faced with difficult choices. The choice between paying a power bill, putting food on the table or keeping up with the rent.
These are choices that no one should be forced to make. Yet last year, well over 200,000 people supported across the state through our members, food vans and specialist services had no other alternative.
For a single adult with no children, the current rate of JobSeeker is just over $793 per fortnight. Even if someone on income support can find a property within their budget, they will almost certainly be in housing stress or poverty.
The Government’s own Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has described JobSeeker as “seriously inadequate” and has found that Australia provides the lowest level of benefits in the OECD for the short-term unemployed.
Many in the Government have in the past expressed similar concerns regarding the JobSeeker payment, describing it as not enough to put food on the table and keep the lights on, and certainly not enough to help get people into work.
While indexation has lifted the daily rate of Newstart from $40 in 2019 to $56 on JobSeeker today, median weekly rents in NSW have jumped from $480 to $650. The gap between income support and the real cost of living has only grown wider.
We should not accept poverty as an unfortunate yet unavoidable part of life. Raising the rate of JobSeeker is a modest and achievable step.
FULL STORY
Raising JobSeeker will help to ease heartbreaking realities for those battling poverty (By Yolanda Saiz, Sydney Morning Herald)
