Jobseeker extended to March, but cut back
Jobseeker will continue into March, but the elevated unemployment benefit has been cut back, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison announcing the change.
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The elevated unemployment benefit will continue until the end of March but it will be cut back again to just $715 a fortnight.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Tuesday that the Jobseeker rate would be reduced from the start of next year, saying the government could not allow the lifeline to “hold Australia back”.
“We know that employers are looking for people to come back to work,” the Prime Minister said.
“We need to ensure we have the right settings in place to support that.”
The fortnightly base rate is $565.70, with a $250 supplement currently in place until the end of the year, after Jobseeker payments were doubled during the first six months of the coronavirus crisis.
For the first three months of next year, the fortnightly supplement will be reduced to $150.
Social services groups have sharply criticised the government for cutting the supplement during the pandemic, and demanded a permanent increase to the usual $40 a day Jobseeker rate.
But Mr Morrison said the government’s economic support had provided “peace of mind” to Australians in “one of the toughest years of their lives”.
He said the government had not decided whether a permanent increase to Jobseeker was needed.
Mr Morrison also confirmed that mutual obligation rules – requiring people on Jobseeker to apply for work — would soon be reintroduced for Victorians on the dole payment.
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