Calls are growing to increase the JobSeeker rate after a new report found it has fallen well behind other social payments. Source: Nine.com.au.
The Australian Council of Social Service yesterday revealed a disparity between JobSeeker and the pension, which fell from the same rate in the 1970s to JobSeeker only accounting for 68 per cent of the pension today.
This has left the average 66-year-old who loses their job receiving almost $409 a week from JobSeeker and a 67-year-old who accesses the pension getting $600 a week.
ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said that was despite both people facing the same rent, grocery bill and energy costs.
“There is no reason one of them should be living on $191 a week less than the other,” she said.
“Woefully low-income support is causing physical and mental harm and trapping people in a cycle of poverty and deprivation.”
The report found that pensions have risen in line with wage growth, while JobSeeker has not.
According to ACOSS, the pension has risen in real terms by more than $30 a week since 2009.
The pension is now 60 per cent of the minimum wage while JobSeeker is just 40 per cent.
“People who receive JobSeeker are skipping meals and forgoing essential medications just to keep a roof over their heads,” Ms Goldie said.
At least 821,000 Australians aged between 22 and 66 receive JobSeeker payments, while about 2.7 million people aged 67 and above are on the age pension, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Both social payments are indexed twice a year and will next rise on September 20, with JobSeeker to increase by $8.10 a week and the pension to increase by $18.40 a week.
ACOSS is calling on the Albanese Government to raise the JobSeeker rate to be in line with the pension.
Nine.com.au contacted Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek for comment.
FULL STORY
JobSeeker falls from same rate as pension to 68 per cent today, new report finds (By Yashee Sharma, Nine.com.au)
