JobSeeker increase to be just $50 a fortnight

Scott Morrison will offer the unemployed an increase to the dole of just $4 a day prompting fears it will plunge hundreds of thousands into poverty.

Scott Morrison will offer the unemployed a permanent increase to the dole of just $4 a day prompting fresh warnings it will plunge hundreds of thousands of families into poverty.

News.com.au has confirmed the planned increase is substantially lower than the $175 a week increase welfare groups have been calling for to help struggling families.

Instead, it’s just $50 a fortnight, which means the permanent increase will be less than $4 a day for unemployed workers.

The Prime Minister will outline the new payment, and new mutual obligation requirements to secure the JobSeeker payment, to the Liberal party room meeting on Tuesday.

But the Morrison cabinet has junked a more ambitious plan to eliminate multiple supplement payments as too complex at the current time.

During the pandemic, the Morrison Government briefly doubled the dole to $550 a week lifting thousands of unemployed people to just below the poverty line.

The JobSeeker base payment is currently set at $565 a fortnight for singles without children and the $150 COVID-19 JobSeeker supplement ends next month.

If the payment is increased by less than $50 a week, people on JobSeeker would get about $650 a fortnight.

The planned increase of less than $50 a week is substantially lower than the $175 increase welfare groups have been calling for to help struggling families.

RELATED: Millions of Aussies in line for cash boost

In Parliament, Prime Minister Scott Morrison insisted his government was “getting Australians back to work.”

“Our economic recovery program from the COVID-19 pandemic is working,’’ he said.

“More than 59,000 full-time jobs were created in January. The Labor Party is having an each way bet on pandemic politics, they play it each and every day. They oppose it as much they support it.

“The reality of what the government is doing is getting Australians back into work.”

The Australian Council of Social Services is calling for a permanent increase of at least $25 a day. Prior to the pandemic, Newstart was $40 a day.

ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie said the proposed changes welfare groups were calling for would increase the dole to $65 a day.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will outline the details, and new mutual obligation requirements to secure the JobSeeker payment, to the Liberal party room meeting on Tuesday. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

RELATED: Vic government faces $6.5bn deficit

“We cannot leave people to make impossible choices between food, rent, bills basic toiletries and medications. Everyone should be able to cover the basics of their life, including people with disability and single parents who are on the JobSeeker Payment. We must also ensure people can meet the costs of job search, including transport, communications and clothing,’’ she said.

“Australia has the lowest unemployment payment in the OECD and there is widespread support for a permanent, adequate increase after more than a quarter of a century without a real increase.

“At just $51 a day, the current rate of JobSeeker is clearly not enough with people again unable to pay their rent, skipping meals, and afford essential bills.

“The Morrison Government delivered an historic and long overdue increase to JobSeeker in 2020, protecting millions from poverty overnight,” Dr Goldie said. “It must now deliver on a permanent and adequate increase to JobSeeker for the long term.

“We have an obligation to make sure that anyone hit by unemployment, whenever that occurs, at least has enough to meet their essential costs and live with dignity so they can begin to rebuild their lives.”

Originally published as JobSeeker increase to be just $50 a fortnight