The federal government's income support will gradually transition from wage subsidies to unemployment benefits, including more than 200,000 mostly part-time workers on reduced JobKeeper payments who will be eligible to top up their pay with JobSeeker.
The number of people on JobSeeker unemployment benefits is forecast by Treasury to decline slightly from the current 1.6 million to 1.5 million by the end of the year, assuming the economy gradually reopens and as "mutual obligation" rules ramp up for welfare recipients.
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John Kehoe is economics editor at Parliament House, Canberra. He writes on economics, politics and business. John was Washington correspondent covering Donald Trump’s first election. He joined the Financial Review in 2008 from Treasury. Connect with John on Twitter. Email John at jkehoe@afr.com
