Women’s equality taskforce to recommend changes to single parent payments

Equality and equity should be at the forefront of the government’s May budget, a taskforce set up by Labor has urged.

The federal government will be asked to restore single parent payments for women of children over eight years old.

It’s one of the key recommendations the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce will hand to the Albanese government in the lead-up to the May budget.

Labor has pledged to make women’s equality and equity a priority for its budget and policy decisions, which culminated in the formation of the taskforce last year.

The taskforce was asked to give the government recommendations for providing economic equality in Australia, to advise on the government’s national strategy to achieve gender equality, as well as to provide feedback on gender responsive policy making and budgeting.

Sam Mostyn, chair of the taskforce, addressed the National Press Club on Thursday, where she shared her vision for a more equitable and equal Australia, while admitting it would require “decades of work”.

She said the taskforce was in the process of building a report to be presented to the government, but shared key wants and a primary recommendation.

“We want to absolutely back in the commitment to a universal, high-quality early education and care system. We want more and more on paid parental leave – we’ve been delighted with the increases to date, but we want superannuation on paid parental leave,” she said.

Chair of the women’s equality taskforce Sam Mostyn addressed the National Press Club on Thursday. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

“One of our primary recommendations will be for the restoration of single parent payment for women of children over eight years old.”

Currently, once a single parent’s youngest child turns eight, they must apply for JobSeeker or some other payment, depending on their circumstances. Job Seeker Principal Carer is a payment for single parents whose youngest child is between eight and 16.

Ms Mostyn said the taskforce had heard how hard the cut-off had overwhelmingly impacted single mothers and caused financial devastation.

“‘Everything falls apart when my daughter turns eight’ – this is a single mother on payments,” Ms Mostyn said, quoting a lived experience.

She conceded the taskforce wanted “a lot of things” but still needed them costed before all recommendations were put to the government “shortly”.

The government will hand down its next budget in May. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“We want to have the Commonwealth rental assistance increased.

“We want … an immediate pay rise for all early childhood educators in recognition of their work and the urgent need to retain, and attract workers to that sector. If we are going to put our precious children into the workforce, we want them to be better paid.

“We also want the activity test abolished as part of the child care subsidy.”

During her speech, she said the recommendations which would be put to government were based on the wide-ranging experiences women across the country had shared with the taskforce.

“We intend to ensure our report and recommendations create a legacy – not a neglected, dusty report on the shelf to be cited in a decade or so,” she said.

“We believe this is sound public policy – smart policy that will unlock multiple contributions of women to Australian society, including as people, partners, parents, employees, entrepreneurs, employers and change makers, and provide them with the visibility, confidence and skills and opportunity they need to maximise their economic contribution.

“Most of the things that we have identified will require decades of work and we’re not shy about that, because delivering on enduring outcomes will require building on these outcomes year after year, in a staged, transparent and measurable way.

“This should be a guiding principle of achieving gender equality generally and underpin the work of the national gender equality strategy.”