Coalition’s JobSeeker change won’t boost work hours: research

Tom McIlroy and Michael Read

Updated May 17, 2023 – 6.33pm, first published at 6.19pm

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New research has cast doubt on the effectiveness of the Coalition’s push for welfare recipients to be allowed to work more hours, as shadow treasurer Angus Taylor called on the government to release costings used to criticise the plan.

A single person on JobSeeker now receives $733.10 a fortnight and can earn another $150 a fortnight before their payment is pared back.

Tom McIlroy is the Financial Review’s Canberra bureau chief based in the press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously the AFR’s political correspondent.

Michael Read is the Financial Review's economics correspondent, reporting from the federal press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia and at UBS.