Dole hike ‘strikes the right balance’

More than one million Australians relying on welfare payments will receive an extra $40 per fortnight as the government pledges $4.9 billion to help the unemployed.

JobSeeker and Youth Allowance recipients will receive $40 extra per fortnight. Picture Glenn Hampson

More than a million Australians relying on welfare payments such as JobSeeker and Youth Allowance will receive an extra $40 a fortnight under a $4.9bn package to help the unemployed.

But the increase is a far cry from what was recommended by the government’s own Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee – chaired by former Labor MP Jenny Macklin – which urged Jim Chalmers to boost the JobSeeker rate of $49.50 a day to $68.

Rather than the 40 per cent rise recommended by the EIAC, the Treasurer’s $40-a-fortnight increase represents a rise of less than 6 per cent.

Dr Chalmers defended the ­decision to keep the boost to welfare payments modest and said he believed the budget “struck the right balance”.

“We’ve tried to do what we can without blowing the budget,” he told The Australian.

“Some people will say we should do more, some people say we shouldn’t do anything,” he said. “We’ve considered it in a ­really careful way, in a methodical way and I think it’s a good ­outcome.”

The move is likely to anger the Greens, who called on the government to raise JobSeeker by $88 per fortnight.

Dr Chalmers pointed to other measures, such as the $2.7bn to increase Commonwealth Rental Assistance and the $3.5bn in bulk-billing incentives, as providing the additional support needed by vulnerable Australians.

The payments that will be ­increased include JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Austudy, ­ABSTUDY, the Youth Disability Support Pension, the Special Benefit, the Partnered Parenting Payment, the Farm Household Allowance and the Self-Employed Allowance.

Along with the blanket rise to the base rate of welfare payments, the threshold for older Australians receiving a higher ­fortnightly JobSeeker payment will be lowered from 60 to 55 years old.

“Until now, people aged 60 and over and on payments for a long time have received a higher rate, in recognition of the ­additional barriers they face finding work. But the truth is, it gets more difficult earlier than that,” Dr Chalmers said in his budget speech.

“The majority of people aged 55 and over on JobSeeker are women, many with little to no savings or superannuation, and who are at risk of homelessness. So tonight, we’re extending the extra support for those aged 60 and over to include Australians aged 55 and over.”

The change will apply to 52,000 people aged 55 to 60 who have been on welfare for nine months or more, with their payment to jump by $92 up to $785 a fortnight.

“Even with unemployment at historic lows, we know there are still people struggling to find work and struggling to get by,” Dr Chalmers said.

“The pressures on the budget are acute – but as a Labor government we will always strive to help those who need it the most.”

More than a dozen Labor backbenchers broke ranks in the weeks leading up to the budget to call for JobSeeker to be increased. They included Josh Burns, Kate Thwaites, Dan ­Repacholi, Mike Freelander and Alicia Payne.

Ms Payne, who signed an open letter co-ordinated by the Australian Council of Social Service with three other Labor MPs, said last week she was committed to pushing internally for a “substantial” JobSeeker increase.

The 6 per cent increase to welfare is expected to draw criticism from advocacy groups such as ACOSS.

The move is also likely to anger the Greens, who have called for JobSeeker to be raised to $88 a day.

Greens social services spokeswoman Janet Rice said this week that “tinkering around the edges” of programs such as JobSeeker would be a “kick in the teeth” to Australians on welfare.