Young Aussie reveals reality of living on JobSeeker

Young Aussie reveals the grim reality of living on JobSeeker after she made the “decision” to quit her job.

Jess has only been on JobSeeker for a month, and she can already see that the $771 payment a fortnight isn’t enough to live on.

“When you look at the median rent for metropolitan rentals in major Australian cities, people would not be able to meet their rent on jobseeker, let alone other basic needs,” she told news.com.au.

“This is one of the reasons why we are seeing higher trends in homelessness.”

The JobSeeker payment is financial help from the government. You qualify if you’re over 22, haven’t reached pension age, and are looking for work.

The 26-year-old resigned from her job in logistics where she worked around 40 hours a fortnight because she wanted to further her education.

“I made the decision to resign as I was with the company for years, since the age of 18. I want to pursue post graduate study to get into my field,” she said.

Jess is currently based in Adelaide and living at home but plans to relocate to the Northern Territory to complete her studies there.

“On Tuesday, I’ll be flying to the Northern Territory and staying in student accommodation. The room in the NT will cost $400 per fortnight. My lease started for the student accommodation on the 8th of July,” she said.

Jess is currently on JobSeeker. Picture: Instagram/jessfromsalisbury

She's been working full time since she was 18. Picture: Instagram/jessfromsalisbury

Although she’s never moved out of home, she’s been contributing to half her mum’s rent since she was 18.

“I used to think what I paid was expensive until I started looking at other rentals and realised that it is so expensive to live on your own and that my only option would be moving into a share house,” she said.

One of the main reasons she resigned from her job and decided to pursue higher education was the unaffordability of housing.

That might sound nonsensical – why reduce your income if you’re worried about housing? But Jess is looking at the long-term picture and wants to upskill.

Core Logic reported in May this year that the national average rental price was now $627 per week. This is 8.5 per cent higher than it was in 2023.

Rents are soaring and buying a house is becoming increasingly expensive. According to an Australian Bureau of Statistics report released in April 2024, the average house price in Australia is $933,800.

Jess wants to have a family in the future and she knows that she needs to prepare now.

“Due to the housing crisis, I’ve had to take multiple factors into consideration if I want to have a family one day,” she said.

The 26-year-old feels she needs to secure a job with a higher income and more consistent hours and possibly relocate to a more regional area, but if she wants to make that happen, she needs to take the financial hit.

Jess said the housing crisis has impacted her choices. Picture: Instagram/jessfromsalisbury

She's broken down her weekly spending. Picture: Instagram/jessfromsalisbury

For now, that means moving to the Northern Territory to focus on studying, and she’ll be living off the $771 payment until she secures work that can fit in with her education.

Jess explained that with the $771-a-fortnight she gets from Centrelink she needs to pay her $400 rent, $150 for groceries, a $32 gym membership and a $8 phone credit.

After paying the essentials, she has little left over for any other expenses that may pop up. Jess said that since being on JobSeeker, she’s already on a “strict budget” and she plans for exactly what she’ll need to spend every fortnight.

“I’ve been eating healthy for the past three months instead of eating junk food, and I’ve noticed a lot of positive changes in my health. I want to continue to buy healthy food even on JobSeeker to maintain my health,” she said.

“I will try to go to produce markets in the NT to source affordable fruits and vegetable. I will also research fortnightly specials before entering grocery stores to save additional money.”

Jess also sold her car because she recognised that the costs of keeping it, like petrol, insurance and ongoing car maintenance, “would not be sustainable on a JobSeeker payment.”

“I recently cancelled subscriptions to save money. My Netflix subscription that was $19 per month and my Sound Cloud subscription that was $10 per month,” she said.

Before she quit her job, she enjoyed going out to eat, buying coffee, going on camping trips, buying skincare, and living a fairly normal middle-class life, but that has come to an abrupt stop.

“I’ve recognised that being on Centrelink, I cannot afford to go out the way that I used to,” she said.

For now, Jess is keen to share her story online to remind people that being on JobSeeker is nothing to be ashamed of.

“I will continue to post my cost-saving measures to TikTok as I want to inform people of my journey and decrease the stigma around being a recipient of Jobseeker. I want to show people they are not alone.”

Originally published as Young Aussie reveals reality of living on JobSeeker