JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments will be ‘phased back’
With the Federal Government expected to “phase back” JobSeeker payments, the number of people on welfare benefits in some Queensland suburbs has tripled since the pandemic started. FIND OUT THE HARDEST HIT SUBURBS
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JOBSEEKER payments will continue to be inflated after September, but “phased back” from the current doubling of the payment, as new data reveals some well-to-do Queensland suburbs have seen the number of people on welfare triple since the start of the year.
Wage subsidies through JobKeeper will also become more targeted, with businesses likely to have to reapply after the September cliff to see if they still qualify, Thursday’s economic statement is expected to reveal.
More will also be done to ensure people taking home more under the JobKeeper wage subsidy than they earned before will be reined in.
Brisbane CBD, Newstead-Bowen Hill, Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach, Robina, and Airlie-Whitsunday have all had a tripling of dole recipients between December and June, latest figures reveal.
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West End, Runcorn, southern Gold Coast suburbs and others have all increased by 2.5 times.
Caboolture has more than any other suburb, with almost 3000 on the government handout, while Surfers Paradise has more than 2600 people on the payment.
The unemployment benefit for was doubled to $1115 a fortnight for six months, which comes to and end in September.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the JobSeeker supplement payment would finish at the end of September, but indicated there would likely to be some form of transition.
“We will, the same as with JobKeeper, seek to phase this back into a more situation as normal (arrangement) moving forward,” he said.
A temporary new supplement, reduced from the current $550 level, is expected to be part of Thursday’s announcement.
He said the next phase of the JobKeeper wage subsidy, expected to include a sliding scale of payments, would take place in a “better” environment than expected.
“The situation is better than what we feared would be the case now,” he said.
Robina and surrounds had 1521 people on JobSeeker in May, up from 476 in December, Airlie-Whitsunday had 1444, up from 405 and Mermaid Beach-Broadbeach had 1282, up from 315.
Also tripling were Newstead-Bowen Hills, up to 913 people from just 230, Hope Island reached 715 people from 213.
Brisbane City now has about 717 people on JobSeeker, up from 216 and West End has 941 JobSeekers, up from 373.
Surfers Paradise now has 2611 people on JobSeeker, up from 944, Coomera reached 1430 people from 536, North Lakes-Mango Hill went from 645 people to 1785 and Springfield Lakes rose from 347 to 1014.
But, Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said there has been a slight reduction in people on JobSeeker between May and June as the economy opens up.
“At the same time we are also seeing an uptick in the number of social security recipients who are reporting income from employment to Centrelink,” she said.
“This shows even those who remain on payment are starting to engage in the workforce.”