A new Anglicare Australia report has found that increasing the unemployment payment to $88 a day would help lift more than two million Australians out of poverty. Source: SBS News.
Currently, the JobSeeker payment averages at around $50 a day, depending on individual circumstances. Anglicare is calling on the federal Government ahead of the May budget to lift payments to $88 a day.
This would raise incomes to meet the Henderson Poverty Line, which was established in the mid-1960s to measure poverty, and is updated quarterly to account for changes in the economy.
The charity’s report, released this week, says the increased payment would lift almost 2.3 million Australians out of poverty, including 840,000 children.
Anglicare has made a submission to the Government ahead of the May Budget, calling for an increase in the JobSeeker wage subsidy to create a more stable income above the poverty line.
Executive Director of Anglicare Australia, Kasey Chambers, said an increase is a matter of urgency.
“The budget is obviously a financial mechanism for how we want Australia to look. And what we’re saying is that we know the rate of working-age payments is so low it’s pushing people into poverty,” Ms Chambers said.
“We have a poverty inquiry at the moment that the federal Government is undertaking, we have the federal government looking at how we measure well-being in the budget, and we’re saying we can’t possibly have those conversations without a rise in JobSeeker.”
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JobSeeker increase would raise 840,000 children in Australia out of poverty: Anglicare (SBS News)
