The latest report from the Government's independent expert Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee released today provides the right advice about priorities for this Federal Budget.
The Committee's number one recommendation is to raise the rate of JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and related payments and Remote Area Allowance in this Budget. It also recommends reform of employment services to stop punishing people and provide genuine help for people to get into decent paid work.
ACOSS strongly welcomes the report's recommendations and urges the Federal Government to act.
"With some predicting unemployment could rise to between 5 and 6.5% by the end of the year, we urgently need a stronger safety net and employment services that don't punish people but help them to get paid work," said ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie.
"Cost of living support must be targeted to people already living in poverty, who face severely rising costs of fuel, food and rent.
"Income support payments are so low that people cannot meet their needs, let alone look for paid work with any dignity or stability. That has to change in this Budget."
ACOSS welcomes the continuing commitment of the EIAC to ambitious reform of employment services, including its recognition that substantial investment is required to better support people without paid work long-term and its call for the removal of the Targeted Compliance Framework. These reforms are designed to lift quality across this failing service and get better employment outcomes for people who face structural disadvantage in the labour market.
ACOSS also welcomes the recommendations to lift Parenting Payment Single to the pension, where it was before 2009, as well as effectively restore wage indexation to Family Tax Benefit Part A. These measures will support low-income families particularly single parents who experience high rates of poverty and financial distress. It is also important that the government act on the Committee's recommendations to stop the weaponisation of the child support system.
We urge the government to adopt the poverty measurement recommendation so that Australia can join most of the rest of the world and measure how many people are in poverty.
ACOSS calls on the Federal government to:
- Substantially raise JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment and related working age payments as a first priority
- Urgently increase Remote Area Allowance to support people who face extreme living costs in remote Australia.
- Fix employment services by removing the harmful Targeted Compliance Framework and redesign employment services so they genuinely help people to get paid work.
- Provide energy upgrades to all social housing and private renters to reduce energy bills and improve health outcomes
